Chicago Cubs Prospects of the Week: Ben Brown and Rafael Morel give a glimpse of the future

Chicago Cubs AAA Hitter of the Week: 1B Jared Young (27 Years Old)

.438/.526/1.063 1 2B, 3 HR, 6 R, 8 RBI

Young is one of our first players to go back to back for prospect of the week. Last week we said:

Jared Young is not young by prospect standards. He’s not beating down the door to demand a call-up like Nick Madrigal did this week. But he is a solid depth piece to allow the Cubs to make roster decisions that won’t require money to be spent on the position.

The moral of the story, Jared Young may not be the answer but he is an answer and a relatively solid one in the form of AAA Iowa depth. 

Well, with Matt Mervis demoted and Cody Bellinger potentially making a move at the deadline, it’s no longer out of the realm of possibility that Young gets a shot at some major league at-bats. If I’d told you a month ago that a 32-year-old that hadn’t batted above .250 since before COVID would be a fan favorite in center field, you’d have laughed me out the door, but if Jared Young could get on that Mike Tauchman path he’s got a legit shot to get to Wrigley after the deadline. 

Chicago Cubs AAA Pitcher of the Week: RHP Ben Brown (23 Years Old)

1 G, 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 6 H, 0 BB, 11 K

I’m not sure what there is left to say for Brown. His performance this year is the only thing that makes me not totally hate the idea of a sell-off at the deadline, because if the front office was able to steal him away for a half-season of David Robertson then I’m at least curious to see what they can do this year as well.

That being said, Brown will be interesting for the Cubs yet again at the deadline this year because when (or hopefully, if) Marcus Stroman, Drew Smyly, or even Kyle Hendricks are dealt, you’d have to assume Brown is on the short-list in line to receive some seasoning at the major league level.

This week he limited the walks and was dominant. Last week he was unable to do so and was lit up. Major league hitters are better at laying off pitches and so he could get himself into some predicaments but I’d much rather him learn that at the big league level than continue to be an extremely big fish in the small pond that is Iowa.

Calling guys up doesn’t always lead to instant results (see Matt Mervis), but that isn’t a good enough reason to keep a guy down. If the Cubs end up selling, Brown should be up by mid-July as a starter. If they manage to stay hot and contend, then he should still be up by mid-July as a relief option to offer internal reinforcements rather than a costly arm from another team. 

Chicago Cubs AA Hitter of the Week: SS Luis Vazquez (23 Years Old)

.280/.321/.640 3 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 10 RBI

Vazquez had a great double-header on Saturday and essentially put up a week’s worth of stats in a day. He’s an interesting piece because he’s not the immediate answer to the middle-infield question like Dansby Swanson or Nico Hoerner. He’s not the future answer like Ed Howard or Crisitan Hernandez. 

But as we pointed out with Jared Young, not every player has to be great every day to be a part of a great team. 

Teams that have success in this league have the depth that they don’t have to trade for. The Chris Taylors of the world have helped the Dodgers have a tremendous amount of prolonged success because when they make a deal at the deadline it’s for a difference-maker rather than depth. While some teams are trading for a utility bat with some speed or a left-handed reliever, the Dodgers are trading for Manny Machado, or Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. 

In order to make those massive splashes, the Cubs have to have the depth to avoid the need for those smaller deadline deals and guys like Vazquez can provide that.

Chicago Cubs AA Pitcher of the Week: LHP DJ Herz (22 Years Old)

2 G, 10 IP, 0.90 ERA, 8 H, 3 BB, 14 K

This is why you draft college hitters in the first round and high school pitchers in pretty much any other round. DJ Herz was spectacular this week. He allowed one run in the two games that he pitched and struck out 14. At 22 years old Herz is ahead of where Ben Brown was last year at this time and could be a major league contributor by the end of this season if he continues on this trajectory. 

He’s been better this year than pretty much ever before and much like any other young pitcher his biggest issue is the walks. He managed to keep them down this week and saw his results flourish. 

For his career he’s averaging just under six walks per nine innings which is obviously too high to be successful in any meaningful way as he rises through the system. That being said, if he can limit the walks, the stuff will absolutely play and his ability to miss bats makes him an attractive late-inning reliever at the very least. 

Chicago Cubs A+ Hitter of the Week: OF Kevin Alcantara (20 Years Old)

.240/.269/.520 2 HR, 3 R, 7 RBI

Much like Jared Young, Alcantara is South Bend’s hitter of the week for the second week in a row. Last week we said:

This one feels good. As much as I love when Carlos Guzman and Jared Young get to have a week to be celebrated, you need your top prospects to play like top prospects. Alcantara had a slow start to the year to say the least and you’d still like to see the power expand a little bit, but his slash line this week combined with his stolen base and his home run gives you a little glimpse of what you can hope for at the upper levels in a year or so.

He wasn’t as impressive this week outside of a five-hit game on Saturday. In fact, the .240 batting average (and more so the .269 OBP) make it difficult to call someone a “Hitter of the Week,” but with how much fans have invested in Alcantara in terms of hope it was nice to see him have at least one truly spectacular game this week. 

Chicago Cubs A Hitter of the Week: IF/OF Rafael Morel (21 Years Old)

.400/.526/.667 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 R, 4 RBI, 1-1 SB

Christopher Morel is the most fun player the Cubs have had since Javier Baez. I say that as an unapologetic Baez superfan and even though there will only ever be one El Mago, Morel’s exuberance and infectious smile are impossible not to cheer for. On the field, one of the best things about Morel is that he plays many positions (though some, are not extremely well), and he is a true power/speed threat.

His younger brother Rafael is similar in just about every way. He has the same infectious smile, and as we pour over the stats from the previous day’s games it’s always interesting to see where Myrtle Beach lined Morel up defensively because he’s everywhere.

He’s still growing into his power as he only has three homers so far this season, but he’s aggressive on the basepaths and this week he managed to keep the strikeouts to a minimum. If he can continue to mature physically and as a hitter then there may be multiple Morel’s in the friendly confines sooner rather than later. 

Chicago Cubs A Pitcher of the Week: RHP Michael Arias (21 Years Old)

1 G, 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 H, 1 BB, 10 K

Find me a better story in the Chicago Cubs’ system than Michael Arias. I’ll wait.

The Blue Jays gave up on Arias as a shortstop prospect and the Cubs swooped in and converted him to the mound. He’s struggled with walks this year, but so have Ben Brown and DJ Herz, and they’ve been pitching professionally for a combined decade. Young pitchers struggle with walks, that’s just the way it goes.

When you remove the walks from his game though, Arias has been absolutely dominant. This week he struck out 10 in five innings. He’s got 58 strikeouts on 37.2 innings so far this season. He’s only allowed one home run all season. This is a guy that hitters haven’t been able to figure out except for when he’s wild and he misses bats as well as anyone in the system.

I miss the 2011 and 2012 Cubs because that’s when the minor league system was booming with top-hitting prospects. The Cubs system this year is booming as well, but instead of guys with 80-grade power and a propensity to strike out, we have guys with 80-grade fastballs and the propensity to strike guys out. Let’s see how that goes.

More Chicago Cubs News