Cubs: Alexander Canario wins Southern League Player of the Month

Chicago Cubs prospects are getting more attention than they have in some time this summer – for a variety of reasons. One name that’s quickly becoming household is that of Cubs prospect Alexander Canario, who won Player of the Month for the Southern League in Double-A after a scorching hot month of July.

After slashing .281/.360/.584 at High-A South bend this year, Canario was quickly promoted to Double-A where, needless to say, he has been progressing rapidly. For the year between both levels, Canario is up to 26 HR and 69 RBI.

Currently just the #16 prospect in the Cubs organization according to Baseball America, you can’t imagine Canario spending much more time outside of the Cubs top 10 the way he’s been swinging it lately. His current slash in Double-A Tennessee sits  at .259/.341/.561 with 19 HR and 47 RBI to go along with 10 swiped bags. In 290 plate appearances, he has drawn 31 walks thus far.

If you had to pick an area of concern at this point in his professional career, like most sluggers, you want to see him cut down on the strikeouts. in 344 AB’s this year between South Bend and Tennessee, Canario has racked up 110 Ks this year. If he can learn to produce more contact as time goes on and start to swat the ball all over the field a little more, the upside goes from high to through the roof.

In the mean time, the potential in Canario is eye-popping in itself. Already at Double-A at just 22 years old, after a breakout month during an already good season, all eyes should lay upon the potential future Cubs outfielder. Reminiscent of Brennen Davis at age 22 in Double-A, should Canario continue to swing it anywhere near the way he did in July, outside of perhaps Davis himself, It’s not hard to envision a scenario where he sees big league action before any of his outfield counterparts in the Cubs system.

For the Cubs, the future is bright regarding their outfield prospects. In fact, there are going to be some tough decisions to be made. Currently, the Cubs have Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kevin Alcantara, Canario and Owen Caissie all on the rise. Keep in mind Chicago also possesses Brennen Davis in Triple-A, along with Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ in the majors, you can see the potential problem in just exactly what to do as time goes on and the Cubs hopefully approach contention in the next couple years.