Chicago Cubs: 3 prospects to be ranked within MLB’s Top 100 soon

The Chicago Cubs have just two prospects in MLB’s Top 100 overall prospects. Could 3 more find their way into the conversation in 2020?

The Chicago Cubs farm system was ranked second-worst at the beginning of the 2019 season primarily due to the graduation of prospects to the big leagues or being part of a trade package for immediate needs. As such, only shortstop Nico Hoerner and catcher Miguel Amaya find themselves currently ranked within MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 overall prospects.

Hoerner was drafted in the first round of the 2018 MLB Amateur Draft out of Stanford. He’s been hampered by a couple of injuries but he’s the type of player that the Cubs big league roster could use right now. Obviously, that’s not going to happen but you understand what I am trying to say. While he might one day hit 10 home runs in a season, Hoerner is more likely to be the type of hitter that’s going to hit line drives into the gaps and keep the line moving.

He doesn’t strike out much and is slashing 0.259/0.330/0.393 with 12 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 17 RBI’s and an 18 to 23 walks to strikeouts ratio. Hoerner is currently ranked as the 49th overall prospect in baseball and the 7th best shortstop prospect.  I would expect that he sees a jump in his ranking to start the 2020 season with the potential of starting at Triple-A Iowa as well.

Amaya was inked to a contract as part of the 2015-2016 international free agent market signing period. He’s currently ranked as the 90th best prospect in baseball and 8th best catching prospect. He’s a little more raw with an expected arrival at Wrigley in 2021 and is slashing 0.239/0.362/0.410 with 20 doubles, 10 home runs, 52 RBI’s and a 49 to 63 walks to strikeouts ratio. You’d like to see his batting increase a little bit but he does a great job of getting on base and he’s extremely agile behind the plate.

So what other prospects might appear in the 2020 Top 100 rankings? Here are three players I could see making an appearance. I need to preface this with that I believe Adbert Alzolay will be with the big league club at the start of the season so I am excluding him from 2020 prospect consideration.

3. Chase Strumpf, 2B

The Cubs absolutely stole Strumpf in the second round of June’s draft. He was projected to go at the end of the first round or early in the second and fell all the way to the end of the second round. In 3 seasons at UCLA, Strumpf slashed 0.301/0.414/0.508 with 44 doubles, 2 triples, 26 home runs and 121 RBI’s.

He played in just 7 games in the Cubs rookie league before joining Class A short-season Eugene. Strumpf has done well with the Emeralds thus far. Through 24 games, he’s slashing 0.289/0.385/0.446 with 7 doubles, 2 home runs and 13 RBI’s. He also sports a 13 to 26 walks to strikeouts ratio. Ranked as the team’s 10th best prospect, Strumpf is already ranked as the 7th best second base prospect in baseball.

With Single-A South Bend’s regular-season schedule ending on September 2, I wouldn’t expect Strumpf to be promoted this season but he will definitely start next season there.

2. Brennen Davis, OF

Brennen Davis is the real deal, folks. The former basketball player decided to commit to baseball full-time in his junior year of high school with a verbal commitment to play collegiate baseball at the University of Miami. The Cubs took him in the second round of the 2018 draft, and he spent much of this offseason recovering from an injury and revamping his swing.

Whatever he did has worked as he’s slashing 0.298/0.371/0.509 in 48 games with Single-A South Bend. He also has 9 doubles, 3 triples, 7 home runs, and 29 RBI’s to go along with that slash line and could begin next season with High-A Myrtle Beach. He’s moved quickly thus far through the minor leagues and if all goes well, Davis could be ready a year earlier than expected. The thing I like about Davis is that he has shown the ability to hit the ball to all parts of the outfield.

1. Brailyn Marquez, LHP

Was there any doubt? The Cubs signed Brailyn Marquez in the 2015-2016 international free agent market to the largest bonus for a left-handed pitcher that year. He’s got a tall, lanky frame but the kid can flat out throw gas. Back on July 25, he recorded 14 strikeouts in a game and struck out the side three times, all on pitches clocked over 100 mph.

He made 17 starts for Single-A South Bend this season with a 3.61 ERA in 77.1 innings of work and 102 strikeouts. Marquez was recently promoted to High-A Myrtle Beach and has made two starts there so far. In those starts, he has 8 strikeouts in 10.0 innings to go along with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.094 opponents’ batting average. He was incredible in the month of July and was named the team’s minor league pitcher of the month.