2024 Spring Training Top 30 Chicago Cubs Prospects (#30-21)

The Chicago Cubs have one of the most improved minor league systems in all of Major League Baseball. That didn’t happen because they dealt Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman at the deadline for a massive haul, it happened because of solid development at the lower levels and what appears to be a great crop of rookies from the Rule 5 Draft in June.  

The players we’ll look at in today’s post are the 30th-21st best prospects in the system and there may be some names you know and some names you’ll get to know. There’s a distinct difference between being the 21st-best prospect in this system and being the 21st-best prospect in the system a couple of years ago. The guys we’ll be talking about in this piece cover a wide range of potential outcomes, with some projecting to be back of the rotation/sixth starter types that are relatively close to the Majors and others that are teenagers with a lot of promise but they’re a long way off. 

Let’s dive into the list.

Number 30 

Pablo Aliendo C 

Age: 22 Years Old

2023 Level(s): AA Tennessee

Joined the organization via: IFA Signing in 2018

2023 Stats: 375 PA .231/.332/.458 16 HR, 40 XBH, 5/5 SB, 61 RBI 49 R 

What we said midway through the season in 2023 still rings pretty true: 

Aliendo is not the prospect that Miguel Amaya was. He may not end up being more than a second catcher on a division-winning team. That being said, what he’s shown this year at AA is a propensity to hit for significant power.

Last year Aliendo had a .227 ISO and had 40 extra-base hits in just 375 plate appearances. There’s a little bit of William Contreras here but with more power at this age than Contreras had shown. It’s hard to imagine that Contreras never hit more than 11 homers in the minor leagues before hitting 20 and 17 respectively in his first two big league seasons. It would be nice to see him tone down the strikeouts a bit and continue to improve on the defensive side, but he still looks like a legitimate option to share catching duties with Amaya or Moises Ballesteros in the years to come. 

Number 29 

Leonel Espinoza OF

Age: 20 Years Old

Level: Rookie Ball/Low-A Myrtle Beach

Joined the organization via: IFA Signing in 2018

2023 Stats: 200 PA .301/.382/.415 2 HR, 14 XBH, 13/19 SB, 21 RBI, 31 R

Espinoza had a rough go of it at Myrtle Beach this year but at Rookie Ball and this fall, he ripped the cover off of the baseball. In 33 games at the Rookie-level, he hit .339/.420/.446 and in his brief three-game stint in the Dominican Summer League, he hit both of his homers and stole three bases in just 10 at-bats. 

This is an extremely volatile ranking, but if he can pick up where he left off and get out of the gates hot at Myrtle Beach in 2024 he could be an extremely interesting power/speed outfielder with a little more filling out to do in his 6 '0 frame. 

Number 28

Brett Bateman OF 

Age: 21 Years Old

Level: Rookie Ball/Low-A Myrtle Beach

Joined the organization via: 8th Round Pick in 2023 Draft

2023 Stats: 141 PA .283/.418/.310 0 HR, 3 XBH, 14/15 SB, 16 RBI, 27 R

When Bateman was drafted last year this is the gist of what we had to say:

He’s played three college seasons and across more than 500 at bats he has 0 home runs. He’s quick on the bases going 42-for-54 in stealing bases in his career and his batting average and OBP have increased each season only striking out more than he walked in his freshman season. That being said, the power is completely non-existent, even in the form of extra-base hits.

That assessment has proven to be pretty spot-on. He’s drawn more walks (26) than strikeouts (19) and that’s led to a great on-base percentage and he’s taken advantage of his speed once on-base to the tune of 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts. Bateman will likely never be a starting caliber outfielder, but he’s a capable defender and when you combine that with his ability to get on base and subsequently be a menace on the basepaths he could be a solid contributing 4th or 5th outfielder sooner rather than later. 

Number 27 

Walker Powell RHP

Age: 27 Years Old

Level: AA Tennessee

Joined the organization via: UDFA in 2021

2023 Stats: 120 IP, 3.68 ERA 109/25 K/BB

Walker Powell is a fascinating player. Last season he pitched almost entirely as a starter after having a stellar 2022 in which he pitched almost entirely out of the bullpen. In 2022 he only started 5 out of the 30 games he appeared in and put up a 2.76 ERA with an 87/21 K/BB ratio. 

Last season he improved and did so in a much more critical role as a starter with 21 of his 25 appearances coming in that role. His long-term role with the team may be a back-of-the rotation/taxi-type starter or he could be a middle-relief option which the Cubs desperately needed last season as David Ross leaned heavily on only a few trusted arms out of the bullpen. Powell should be at AAA to start the year and could find himself in the Friendly Confines before we reach the All-Star Break if he pitches well. 

Number 25

Jake Slaughter

Age: 27 Years Old

Level: High-A South Bend, AA Tennessee

Joined the organization via: 18th Round Pick of 2018 Draft

2023 Stats: 432 PA, .243/.340/.483 22 HR, 44 XBH, 16/22 SB 77 RBI 59 R

Let’s discuss the elephant in the room: Jake Slaughter is 27 years old. He’s not a pitcher who has dealt with Tommy John, he’s just developed pretty slowly. That being said, last year was a solid follow-up to a career year for Slaughter in 2022. 

Prior to 2022, Slaughter had never hit double-digit homers but in 2023 he cracked 20+ for the second year in a row. He also continued to be aggressive on the basepaths despite the 16 bases he stole last year being significantly fewer than his career high of 36 in 2022. Slaughter has played all over the infield and his utility combined with his combination of power and speed make him a player that could be a beneficial bench bat to a team attempting to make a playoff run. 

Number 24

Cristian Hernandez SS

Age: 20 Years Old

Level: Low-A Myrtle Beach

Joined the organization via: 2021 IFA Signing

2023 Stats: 431 PA, .223/.302/.301 4 HR, 19 XBH, 27/32 SB, 40 RBI, 46 R

There’s no point in sugar-coating it, last season was not great for Hernandez and that’s how he’s found himself in the bottom third of this top-30 prospect list. In fact, he’s not even as high as his brother Alexis who will appear later on, but there’s still hope for him to turn it around. 

Last season was the worst statistical season for Hernandez in just about every category. He played more than twice as many games as he had in 2021 but hit one fewer homer in more than 200 more at-bats. He also only stole six more bases than he did that season, only walked nine more times than he did that season, and struck out a whopping 79 more times than he did that season.

Hernandez was the prize of the Cubs’ 2021 international crop which goes to show the volatility of giving millions of dollars to high-school sophomores, but a hot start to 2024 could cause him to buoy back to the top of lists come mid-season. 

Number 23

Ezequiel Pagan

Age: 23 Years Old

Level: High-A South Bend, AA Tennessee

Joined the organization via: 13th Round Pick of 2018 Draft

2023 Stats: 437 PA .298/.378/.401 5 HR, 27 XBH, 12/22 SB, 68 RBI, 59 R

Pagan was a nice surprise last season. His slugging was down a bit from his 2022 season but he continued to put the bat on the ball and much like Bateman could find himself fulfilling a valuable role for a team that needs a guy at the bottom of the order or a pinch-hitter coming off of the bench. 

You’d love to see a bit more pop in the bat, even if it just came in the form of doubles rather than homers, but hopefully, we’ll see more of that when he gets a full season in AA in 2024. 

Number 22

Haydn McGeary 1B

Age: 24 Years Old

Level: High-A South Bend, AA Tennessee

Joined the organization via: 15th Round Pick of 2022 Draft

2023 Stats: 532 PA, .275/.397/.462 19 HR, 43 XBH, 7/10 SB, 88 RBI, 65 R

The best ability is availability and that is something that McGeary showed in spades last season as he played in 124 games and put up 532 at-bats. He made the most of those at-bats as he hit for average, drew plenty of walks, and also hit for power to the tune of more than 40 extra-base hits. 

The Cubs seemed to have their first-baseman of the future in waiting at AAA to start last year in the form of Matt Mervis but that position (especially with the uncertainty surrounding Cody Bellinger’s future with the organization) is very much in flux to start 2024. If McGeary starts the year as hot as he played last season he may be the next prospect fans are dying to get to Wrigley. 

Number 21

Drew Gray LHP

Age: 20 Years Old

Level: Rookie Ball, Low-A Myrtle Beach

Joined the organization via: 3rd Round pick in 2021 Draft

2023 Stats: 34 IP, 4.50 ERA, 56/29 K/BB

This is purely speculative as Gray has played extremely sparingly since being drafted. Last season coming back from injury he pitched just 34 innings but in that brief time on the mound, he showed stuff that very few in the organization possess as he struck out a whopping 56 batters.

Those strikeouts came with a bit of volatility as he also walked 29 batters, but that’s to be expected from a prep pitcher coming back from injury having not pitched in almost two years. The Cubs have plenty of pitchers higher on this list that have a significantly higher floor than Gray does, but a 6’3 lefty with that kind of strikeout stuff has a much higher ceiling than just about anyone in the system not named Cade Horton or Jackson Ferris.

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