June 11, 2014: The Prospect

As the Cubs took on the Pirates Tuesday night, I was excited to see the debut of a highly touted prospect.  As Javier Baez took the field… oh wait, that was the Pirates’ propect that was making his first appearance in this game.  Gregory Polanco finally arrived to the majors for Pittsburgh.  This 6’4″ outfielder is projected to be awesome.  He only managed 1 single in his first game, and dropped a catchable ball that turned into one of Rizzo’s doubles, but the Pirates and all of their fans have to be excited to finally see one of their top prospects in the majors.  As a Cub fan, I am still waiting for that day…

Well, we did see the arrival of a prospect last year, and another one at the start of this year.  Junior Lake and Mike Olt have arrived, and the results have been inconsistent.  That doesn’t really matter though does it?  Most players as they debut in the majors have some growing pains to go through.  Junior Lake has been extremely streaky.  He’ll have games that he goes deep multiple times, or games in which he has 4 hits, but those O-fer games have far exceeded the bright spots.  He does have 8 HRs, but 68 strikeouts, and that .242. batting average is not up to par.  Mike Olt has been another polarizing player.  I think he still leads all NL rookies with 9 home runs, but currently can’t bat his weight.  A .151 batting average???  It doesn’t get worse than that.  At what point are prospects declared failures?  How much time do players like Lake and Olt require to figure out if they belong or not?

Well, it didn’t take long for some of the other highly touted Cubs propsects, with Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters.  They had a brief stay last year in the majors, which ended in a demotion back to the minors.  What more do these players have to achieve in the minor leagues?  Are they just not cut out for the majors?  It’s got to be a tough call with each player’s situation being unique.  Is it just a matter of timing?  Are they not mentally ready?  Will they just never be able to make the jump?  We’ve seen one of these scenarios play out with the hottest player on the Cubs, Anthony Rizzo.

With another HR (off of a lefty), and 2 doubles, Rizzo stayed red hot.  It wasn’t always like this for Anthony.  When this highly touted prospect was first called up for the Padres, he had worse numbers than both Lake and Olt.  In 49 games/153 plate appearances with the Padres he batted a meager .141.  He never had another AB with San Diego.  Obviously, Theo and Jed still saw something there, and acquired him.  His first 2 seaasons with the Cubs have been filled with ups and downs, but now in his 3rd year, he seems to have finally arrived.  With his current average at .284, 13 home runs through 61 games, a great fielding percentage, and some signs of leadership, this is the player we have waited for.  The key words here, waited for…

The procedure viagra for sale involves making small incisions with the use of computer programs and robotic instruments. With tadalafil vs cialis, the erection will go away after sexual activity just as it normally would. The new woman shall have far less patience than the previous one and it shall purchase levitra not help them to stick together for a longer time. Having cialis generika 40mg said that, bananas do have a reason to be worried. Patience is not a trait of a die-hard fan, but that is what is being asked of us as Cubs fans by Theo and Jed.  Patience is being asked of from a fan base that has never seen a world series championship.  OK, there may be someone who is 106 years old that actually saw the last time the Cubs won…  So as the Cubs rebuilding plan starts to show signs of coming to fruition, how much longer do we have to wait?  I’ve sat here and said I expect them to be in the mix NEXT year.  Is that reasonable?  In year 4 of the rebuilding project, I think it should be an expectation.  I’m ready to see some more of these prospects.

Yes, it’s nice to see Lake and Olt, but what about the big guns, Baez and Bryant?  It’s almost a guarantee that Baez will be up this year, but we may have to wait for Bryant for another year!?!  He is absolutely destroying AA pitching, but according to the plan, he will make a stop at AAA.  Although we do have a player that came straight from AA to the majors in Starlin Castro.  Why not try it with Bryant?

All of these prospects, regardless of their paths, will go through struggles.  Whether it be in the minors or the majors, whether it be in year 1 or year 2, unless your Mike Trout, you usually don’t see guys come up and just be great period.  Jose Abreu has been pretty damn good so far in the 2 months we have seen him, but again, it’s 2 months.  I’m sure he’ll face his struggles too… or will he?  Will he be a rare exception to the rule?  Only time will tell.

I guess that’s what we have to wait for.  Only time will tell if any of these Cubs prospects will pan out.  This will be a big factor in the plan for the Cubs.  If they take longer than expected to pan out, what does that mean for us fans?  How many more years do we have to wait?  I’m not sure, but I can only imagine the excitement when Baez finally shows up… regardless if he only gets 1 hit in his first game, or misplays a ball in the field.  This is the kind of excitement the Cubs need.  With the current team showing signs of recovering from their pathetic start, an addition of a prospect or two this summer, could turn out interesting.  I’m ready to see it.  I’m ready now.  Let the prospects play!