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Cubs: When will we see the team’s top prospects in Chicago?
The Cubs are about to turn the page, giving top prospects increased importance.
The Chicago Cubs have already begun moving on from its core from recent years and those who are left – namely Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras continued to be floated on the rumor mill. The message is clear: it’s time to focus on the future.
Chicago gutted much of its farm system while still competing to try and maximize their opportunities, which is to be expected from any team looking to win. After pilfering the minor league ranks in trade, the team’s prospects are once again intriguing. But how long until we see these guys make an impact at the big league level?
Cubs have three clear headliners atop their farm system
After a few years of a barren farm system, the Cubs finally have an intriguing system once again, but how long until some of these prospects actually make an impact in the majors?
The Cubs have three top 100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline. They are Brailyn Marquez, Brennen Davis and Miguel Amaya, all of whom have a great chance of being key pieces of the Cubs future, and it probably won’t be long until we see them on the North Side.
Marquez (#60 – MLB Pipeline) has potential to be the team’s next ace. With an unbelievable 80-grade fastball that can get up to 102 MPH, and two other plus pitches, the young southpaw has the perfect tools to become a dominant pitcher in the majors.
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He made his big league debut in 2020 but was a bit wild, walking three batters and recording just two outs. He may seem like a candidate to make the Opening Day roster in 2021, but it makes a lot more sense for him to start the season in the minors. Marquez still has control issues to work out, and it makes more sense for him to do it in the minors rather than feeding him to the wolves in the Show. We likely will see Marquez for some of 2021, but he likely won’t be a major contributor until 2022.
As I mentioned, Brennen Davis is another top talent in the system (#61 – MLB Pipeline). Davis is a very well-rounded player with no real weaknesses to be found. He isn’t dominant at any one thing but he’s an intriguing combo of power and speed that’s never easy to find. Many see Davis as the Cubs’ true top prospect as he has raked effectively at every level he’s been at. Davis likely won’t find his way to Wrigley in 2021, but there’s a good chance we see him as a big contributor in 2022 and beyond.
The final top 100 prospect for the Cubs is Miguel Amaya (#89 – MLB Pipeline). Amaya was signed by the Cubs in 2015 when he was just 16 and he’s the longest-tenured Top 100 Cubs prospect. Amaya’s strength is definitely his defense behind the plate, but he has a decent amount of power as well. At just 21, he’s never played above High A so he likely won’t be a major factor in 2021 or the start of 2022, but he could very well be Willson Contreras’ successor down the line.
Cubs have a lot of guys who are still a ways off
The Cubs have a couple intriguing guys who could find themselves into the Top 100 eventually, but won’t be seen in the majors for quite some time. Ed Howard, Ryan Jensen and Chase Strumpf are all players that may have a huge impact down the line in Chicago.
Howard was the Cubs’ first-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and was seen by many as the best shortstop in the class. Howard is touted as an ace fielder and has great speed. His bat is his biggest question mark but he’s just 18 and still has yet to play a minor league game due to COVID-19 leading to the cancellation of last year’s minor league schedule.
Despite all of this, he’s already the Cubs fourth-best prospect and will likely find his name on the Top 100 list soon. But his young age and amount of development needed likely means we won’t see the hometown hero until 2024 or 2025 at the earliest.
Ryan Jensen was drafted a year before Howard in the first round of the 2019 draft. The Fresno State product has a fantastic 70-grade fastball and a decent slider. However Jensen still needs to develop a truly reliable third pitch and needs to work on his control. Throw in the fact that Jensen has yet to pitch above Low A, and it’s unlikely we see him in the majors anytime soon even though he is already 23.
Chase Strumpf may be the most intriguing infield prospect currently in the Cubs system. The 2019 second-round pick has loads of offensive potential at second base which Nico Hoerner hasn’t exactly excelled at yet. Strumpf is one of the best power bats in the system and made his way quickly up to A ball before not being able to play in 2020.
Strumpf was showing off just how much potential he has offensively and if he can pick up in 2021 where he left off, he may be ready to take the role of starting second baseman in 2023 or 2024.
Cubs will likely rely on this handful of MLB-ready prospects in 2021
The Cubs have a lot of prospects that still need developing and aren’t quite ready, but they do have three pitchers who will likely contribute for them in 2021 in Justin Steele, Tyson Miller and, of course, Adbert Alzolay.
Steele has had an interesting road to the majors. The former fifth-round pick was once seen as one of the club’s better prospects up until he had Tommy John surgery and had to work his way back. was called up to the majors a few times in 2020 but never found his way into a game. This year, however, it’s likely the left-hander will find himself in the bullpen a few times this year as a depth guy. Steele’s days as a potential starter are likely over, he does present an intriguing lefty option out of the ‘pen.
Miller may have an outside shot of being in the rotation this year. The righty made his MLB debut in 2020, making two appearances, including one start. Miller is similar to Steele in the fact that he’s likely going to be a top depth option for both the bullpen and rotation, and we likely haven’t seen the last of Miller in Chicago.
Alzolay likely has a rotation spot locked up and he’s one of the most intriguing players for the Cubs going into the season. For all of the great things Theo Epstein did for the Chicago Cubs, one thing he never seemed to have was a homegrown starter. Epstein is gone now, but Alzolay still has a great chance to break that trend. The young hurler has flashed serious potential of being a good starter over his first two years in the league and now he’s likely going to get a full season in the majors and hopefully he shows that he can be a building block for the future.
Next. A Kris Bryant trade won’t come until this summer. dark
While the Cubs likely won’t be a great team in 2021, and we likely won’t see much of their exciting young prospect pool, there’s a lot of reason for optimism going into the future. There’s a lot of other prospects that weren’t mentioned here who could wind up being contributors for the Cubs down the line such as guys like Cole Roederer, Chris Morel or Burl Carraway. Hopefully the upcoming youth movement for the Cubs brings them as much success as the last core did.