Chicago Cubs Prospects of the Week: Kevin Alcantara, Cade Horton shine

Cubs Single-A Pitcher of the Week: RHP Grant Kipp

1 G, 6 IP, 1.50 ERA, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Grant Kipp is on this list with a nearly identical line to the one that led to him appearing here last week. Honestly, not much has changed from what I said then, so here’s a quick recap of what was said:

Kipp will draw comparisons to Kyle Hendricks as an Ivy League graduate whose calling card is his pitchability more than his movement or velocity. He’s significantly older than the competition at Myrtle Beach; in fact a majority of the batters he faces at Low-A are younger than the ones he faced while at Yale.

That being said, he’s treating those inexperienced hitters in the exact way that he should: by dominating them. This week it only took him 70 pitches to get through six innings even while striking out eight batters. The Cubs have done a pretty solid job of adding young pitching depth with limited ceiling but solid floor without having to spend a ton of capital on that area of the system.

Nick Hull, our prospect pitcher of the month for Low-A was a massive under-slot signing in the 2022 draft, we’ve already touched on Cade Horton as the Pitching Prospect of the Week this week at High-A and now we can add Kipp, an undrafted free agent, as Pitching Prospect of the Week at Low-A to that list. 

At 6’6, 220 pounds, Kipp is an ideal size for a pitcher in the Major Leagues. The advanced metrics don’t think he’s been as good as his old-school metrics are showing, but that’s usually how it goes for pitchers like Kipp who rely more on their mind than their stuff to get batters out.