On Wednesday the highly-touted Chicago Cubs prospect, Jorge Soler, got his first MLB at-bat, and what he did in that at-bat is all Chicago could have hoped for. Soler smacked a solo home run off of Mat Latos in the second inning of the game, starting off what has the potential to be a very special career.
What Soler did was certainly impressive, and the Cubs should certainly be excited about his future. However, they should also be excited for their future as a team due to all the prospects that are beginning to make themselves known in the baseball world.
The Cubs are a franchise that have had a plethora of struggles; both in the recent, and not-so-recent past. This season, the Cubs have unveiled some rather talented prospects in their organization. Javier Baez and Jorge Soler have joined Arismendy Alcantara in the bigs as future top players for the Cubs. Obviously these guys are not going to step in and turn the struggling Cubs around in an instant, but they are still making strides to help the Cubs improve. Alcantara has been with the Cubs the longest this season, and has been solid. He is hitting .229, with five homers in 43 games played. It’s nothing extraordinary, but it isn’t bad either. Despite Alcantara being there, Soler and Baez seem to be the most important prospects on the team at this point. Baez has already established himself as a huge power threat, and Soler put the entire league on notice with just one swing of the bat. These guys are not perfect though, and they still have lots of room for improvement.
To start, Baez needs to make serious alterations at the plate. Yes, his seven home runs in just 22 games is impressive, but his other stats are abysmal. Javier’s batting average is a lowly .200, and his OBP is currently only .234. The worst of all of Baez’s struggles would certainly be his whopping 40 strikeouts. When Baez is at the plate he seems to go all-or-nothing. He is a special talent, but his lack of true hitting ability is ruining him. Seven home runs in 22 games is great, but 40 k’s in that amount of time is dreadful. I’m not saying he is a failure, because he has a huge upside. Development is going to be the key for Javy. If he puts in enough work and becomes a smarter hitter, he could very well end up a formidable threat for years to come.
As for Soler, he has to live up to expectations if he wants to be considered a success. In the minors this season Soler has played on three different league levels, and played rather well on all of them. His batting average for the minors this season is .340, along with a .432 OBP. Soler’s stats stayed decent even as he got to the AAA level, as he kept his batting average near .300 (.286). Like I said, Soler has to meet expectations. It’s not likely that he will amaze everyone this season, as this is the first experience he is getting in the show, but if the Cubs can develop him correctly Soler will no doubt meet expectations. He has the potential, and he certainly showed that in his first at-bat.
The Cubs have promising prospects currently on their roster, but they are lacking in many aspects; especially pitching. After trading away Samardzija, the Cubs really do not have a major ace. On top of that, their only real pitching prospect is now CJ Edwards. The Cubs lack pitching depth, and that is blatantly obvious. However, the Cubs front office is hoping to gain some ground on the mound in the near future. Travis Wood is going to be vital to Chicago improving their pitching staff. Wood is a pitcher who has never been the star of the rotation, but when he gets on a roll he can really hold a pitching staff together at the end or middle of the rotation. Wood has not been anything special this season, but if he can get back to the times when his ERA was in the low threes he will be a big help to the Cubs. As well as improving their current pitchers, the Cubs are no doubt going to be looking into picking up an ace in the off season. There is really no indication of who they will look to get at this point, but they will certainly be looking for a guy who can lead their staff and give direction to a rotation with no standout pitchers. The Cubs need multiple things to come together when it comes to pitching, but if it works out the way they intend it could be a huge help for the club.
The Chicago Cubs have faced hardships year-after-year. The future — and past — has been bleak for Chicago and the fans at Wrigley, but new faces are beginning to emerge from this club and they have the potential to make the Cubs great again. Greatness is something that is long overdue for the Cubs, but they may finally have it yet again.
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