Pitching, pitching and extra pitching.
That sums up the Chicago Cubs’ three-day, 20-round MLB draft. By the time the draft ended Tuesday afternoon, 16 of the Cubs’ 20 picks had been pitchers together with two outfielders, a shortstop and a catcher.
Vice president of scouting Dan Kantrovitz mentioned afterward he could be shocked if the Cubs signed all 20 gamers, however he anticipates agreeing to offers with 18 or 19 of them, a determine he’d be “really happy” with.
“The way the draft is structured, you have to put different plans in place for various scenarios that may unfold during the signing process,” Kantrovitz mentioned Tuesday throughout a post-draft video name.
Like each big-league staff, the Cubs hope they got here away with impactful expertise on this draft class, a bunch that features highschool right-hander Mason McGwire, the son of former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire whom they took within the eighth spherical.
1. The Cubs’ pitcher-heavy draft featured a strategic method.
The Cubs’ first two choices Sunday — right-hander Cade Horton (No. 7) and left-hander Jackson Ferris (No. 47) — began the pitching development. Although they drafted highschool shortstop Christopher Paciolla within the third spherical, the following 11 picks had been pitchers.
The Cubs’ philosophy getting into the draft centered on taking the highest out there gamers on their board. However, Kantrovitz defined the group was additionally aware, particularly going into the ultimate day, of its minor-league depth and the place there could be alternatives for draftees to accrue innings or at-bats.
“Pitching is a need for every major-league baseball team,” Kantrovitz mentioned, “and right now when we looked at our depth charts, there was a lot more places where pitchers could get innings than where hitters would be able to get at-bats. You want to make sure to be careful when you’re drafting a player, especially on Day 3, that there’s going to be somewhere for him to play and get at-bats.”
The Cubs have plenty of younger place gamers who want as many at-bats as doable over the ultimate two months of the minor-league season. And until the Cubs believed they had been drafting somebody higher than a kind of gamers, Kantrovitz mentioned, they didn’t need to take away at-bats from a prospect already of their system.
“It’s hard to have too much pitching,” he mentioned. “And if you don’t draft it, then you have to sign it after the draft. So from the standpoint of where we ended up, it ends up being somewhat of an equilibrium in terms of the players going into our system and getting ABs and having innings. We’re not going to need to probably do too much after the draft in this case.”
2. ‘Open-minded’ to a fourth-round decide as a two-way participant.
Did the Cubs draft baseball’s subsequent two-way participant?
That’s doubtless a stretch, but it surely seems fourth-round decide Nazier Mule will get a possibility to point out he can play each methods. The Cubs “thoroughly” evaluated the 17-year-old as a hitter and pitcher, based on Kantrovitz. Mule’s two-way means was one of many causes the Cubs drafted him.
“We have some scouts that are really excited about him offensively,” Kantrovtiz mentioned. “He’s only a dynamic, distinctive athlete.
“We’re going to be open-minded to somebody that might be able to do both … but certainly don’t want to close any doors there.”
Mule initiatives as a greater pitcher, in a position to hit triple digits together with his fastball, although he’s extra in line with the pitch when throwing it a number of ticks slower. He additionally possesses spectacular uncooked energy, making the 6-foot-3 shortstop an intriguing right-handed hitter. Perfect Game rated him the highest two-way prospect coming into the draft.
Mule, a University of Miami commit, was introduced as a pitcher when the Cubs chosen him Monday, and Kantrovitz expects the group to guage him first off the mound. Kantrovitz didn’t rule out Mule getting a glance as a place participant.
“Just because we’re going to start off with the evaluation one way doesn’t mean we’re going to typecast him into that role,” Kantrovitz mentioned. “He’s dynamic on both sides.”
And although 14th-round decide Shane Marshall spent most of his faculty profession at catcher, the Cubs will convert him to a pitcher. Marshall threw solely 1⅔ innings on the University of Georgia. He twice pitched in aid in 2022, recording one out in every look. Despite the restricted appears to be like, Cubs scouts noticed some “pretty special” mid-90s fastballs out of the 6-foot-4 right-hander.
“There’s no plans for Shane to do anything but pitch once he gets in the organization,” Kantrovitz mentioned. “When you get a few different data points even if not too many pitches, if it’s potentially a special pitch, that’s something that we want to make sure that we have the opportunity to develop and we’re excited about him.”
3. Players’ damage histories didn’t scare off the Cubs.
The Cubs didn’t draw back from pitchers with arm accidents.
Kantrovitz indicated earlier than the draft that damage historical past wouldn’t forestall them from contemplating a participant. The Cubs finally chosen three gamers with notable damage histories.
Horton missed his whole freshman season at Oklahoma in 2021 after Tommy John surgical procedure, which restricted his faculty profession to 14 video games (11 begins) in 2022.
Fifth-round decide Brandon Birdsell missed his junior season in highschool due to Tommy John surgical procedure, and a strained rotator cuff ended his 2021 season at Texas Tech in April. Birdsell prevented rotator cuff surgical procedure, and the right-hander bounced again to develop into Big 12 pitcher of the yr.
Oregon State right-hander Will Frisch, their sixth-round decide, underwent Tommy John surgical procedure in March. The Cubs scouted him two years in the past and met with him on the MLB mix final month at Petco Park in San Diego. At the mix assembly, Kantrovitz mentioned they went over Frisch’s rehab and the place the pitcher was in his development, mindset and objectives.
Kantrovitz recalled speaking to Oregon State coaches within the predraft course of and listening to them rave about Frisch’s work ethic and energy. Kantrovitz praised Frisch’s pitcher’s construct and intelligence.
“Despite really not getting out there this year, he’s somebody where we have to just rely on the history and then just get really comfortable with Will as a person, which we ended up doing,” Kantrovitz mentioned. “And he’s any person that after he will get wholesome might flip into a reasonably thrilling energy arm.
“We have a lot of confidence that he’s going to put these things together.”
4. Predraft exercises repay.
Leading as much as the draft, the Cubs performed 4 exercises. Three had been basic exercises at separate amenities — in Texas, at their advanced in Mesa, Ariz., and at their High-A South Bend ballpark — in addition to a number of particular person exercises at Wrigley Field.
Kantrovitz estimated 5 or 6 gamers they drafted attended one of many predraft exercises. One was Fifteenth-round decide Haydn McGeary, a Colorado Mesa University catcher. He labored on the Cubs advanced in Mesa, the place the group was in a position to get to know the 22-year-old on a distinct stage past McGeary’s eye-popping numbers.
In 57 video games this yr, McGeary hit .481 with a .579 on-base proportion, 35 residence runs, 17 doubles, 79 RBIs, 86 runs scored and a 1.061 slugging proportion. (No, that’s not a typo.) McGeary, the back-to-back Division II participant of the yr, hit 55 residence runs during the last two seasons, averaging a homer each 8.7 plate appearances.
The 6-foot-5 McGeary will get a possibility to stay at catcher, although Kantrovitz anticipates shifting him round and enjoying him at first base.
Said Kantrovitz: “He’s accumulated some off-the-charts, Nintendo-type numbers, but that’s backed up by some context-neutral data points as well when we’re talking about the exit (velocity) and the manner in which the ball just flies off his bat. We got to the point where we were really comfortable and the potential in having a power bat.”
Cubs draft picks
- Round 1 (No. 7): RHP Cade Horton, Oklahoma
- Round 2 (No. 47): LHP Jackson Ferris, IMG Academy (Fla.)
- Round 3 (No. 86): SS Christopher Paciolla, Temecula Valley HS (Calif.)
- Round 4 (No. 113): RHP Nazier Mule, Passaic County Technical Institute (N.J.)
- Round 5 (No. 143): RHP Brandon Birdsell, Texas Tech
- Round 6 (No. 173): RHP Will Frisch, Oregon State
- Round 7 (No. 203): RHP Nick Hull, Grand Canyon
- Round 8 (No. 233): RHP Mason McGwire, Capistrano Valley HS (Calif.)
- Round 9 (No. 263): RHP Connor Noland, Arkansas
- Round 10 (No. 293): RHP Brody McCullough, Wingate
- Round 11 (No. 323): LHP Branden Noriega, MLB Draft League
- Round 12 (No. 353): RHP Mathew Peters, Ivy Tech CC (Ind.)
- Round 13 (No. 383): RHP Luis Rujano, Sunshine State Elite Academy (Fla.)
- Round 14 (No. 413): RHP Shane Marshall, Georgia
- Round 15 (No. 443): C Haydn McGeary, Colorado Mesa
- Round 16 (No. 473): RHP JP Wheat, Next Level Academy (Ala.)
- Round 17 (No. 503): OF Andy Garriola, Old Dominion
- Round 18 (No. 533): RHP Garrett Brown, Georgia
- Round 19 (No. 563): RHP Brock Blatter, Billings Central Catholic HS (Mont.)
- Round 20 (No. 593): OF Ke’Shun Collier, Meridian CC (Miss.)
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Source: www.bostonherald.com