The Chicago Cubs had a pretty solid draft regardless of who is talking about it in the baseball world right now. Several years of dealing mid-tier major league talent for mid-tier minor league prospects has led the organization to be very deep but it lacks the legitimate star power that it had a decade ago.
This year’s class aims to change that.
We’ve had a lot of draft coverage this year already so if you want a deep dive into the Cubs first-round pick, Matt Shaw, you can look at this piece we posted a few days ago.
If you want to understand why they went with Shaw rather than a pitcher you can look at this one.
If you want a deep dive in second round fireballer Jax Wiggins check this out.
That being said, this piece is about giving you some background on the Cubs' 6th-10th round picks and we’ll have additional coverage for the guys they took in the 11th-20th later this week.
6th Round Pick- Alfonsin Rosario OF (HS)
Rosario is an interesting pick. There are a lot of guys that have “the look” and by all reports, Rosario has the look. He’s already big, even at 19 years old, and he has the kind of big-time raw power and arm that are associated with that size. Unfortunately, he doesn’t make it to the Cubs in the 6th round if there aren’t also significant concerns about the swing and miss in his game and I have a hard time not thinking of Brennen Davis. The potential is tantalizing, and the Cubs have to try to get some star power potential in this extremely deep farm system, but the potential for failure is very present as well.
Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic said:
"Rosario is near the top of prep athletes when it comes to bat speed and exit velocities. The Cubs do expect some growing pains as he faces advanced pitching for the first time. But the raw numbers and swing properties led them to believe he could eventually hit for big-time power. His bat speed, paired with a planar swing, allows him to keep the bat in the hitting window, which gives him the ability to make strong contact even if his timing isn’t perfect."Sahadev Sharma