Cubs: Prospect Kohl Franklin was breakout star in 2019

Cubs prospect Kohl Franklin had a breakout season in short-season Eugene and I had a chance to catch up with him recapping his big year.

In what could end up being a very good draft class, 2018 was highlighted by first-round pick Nico Hoerner. Second-round compensatory pick, Paul Richan, has already been moved in a trade that acquired Nick Castellanos at the trade deadline but one of the best pitchers from this draft is Kohl Franklin.

Franklin was drafted in the sixth round out of Broken Arrow High School and is the nephew of former Cardinals pitcher Ryan Franklin. The Cubs took their time with Franklin, getting him acclimated to life as a professional baseball player and made just 3 starts (5 appearances) to finish out his 2018. It’s an extremely small sample size, but he struck out 8 batters in 8.2 innings while allowing opponents to hit just 0.161 off him.

He made his debut for short-season Eugene on June 15 and blossomed into a very good pitching prospect and was called up to Single-A for a cup of coffee at the end of the year. In a much larger sample size, Franklin was dominant in 10 starts for the Emeralds, tossing 39.0 innings with 49 strikeouts and an opponents’ batting average of just 0.214.

I had the opportunity to catch up with him.

Q: What was the draft process like for you and was it a difficult choice to bypass your verbal commitment to the University of Oklahoma? Were you surprised to hear your name called so high in the 2018 draft?

A: The process wasn’t too difficult, having a dad who’s an agent helped a ton, being able to see other guys he’s worked with go through the same process kind of helped me on what to expect. It was hard to pass up the University of Oklahoma, but I felt in my mind I was fully prepared and mature enough to start my professional career. I wasn’t too surprised to hear my name called just because we were in contact with the Cubs and I kind of had an idea where I’d be picked at.

Q: You put up great numbers with Eugene this season including an opponents’ batting average of just 0.214. What can you attribute to having so much success?

A: I contribute a lot of it to the mindset I take with me on the mound, almost like a killer mindset haha. It’s like I’m a different person out there.

Q: Near the end of the season, you got a taste of Single-A. Albeit it was 3.0 innings, what was that like for you and do you see yourself as a starter or reliever going forward?

A: Getting called up to South Bend was an awesome experience. I thought it was very good for me to make a start there and get my feet wet in the Midwest League. I see myself as a starter down the road no doubt in my mind.

Q: How much do the Cubs use analytics in the lower levels and are you utilizing technology like the Rapsodo machine to develop your pitches?

A: The analytical side really helped me learn a knuckle curveball this year, just helping me see where my hand needed to be on the ball and helped with keeping a 12-6 spin on it rather than it getting slurvish.

Q: What pitches do you feel still need some work and what are your goals heading into the offseason and into the 2020 season?

A: I still feel like my curveball needs work as well as a better fastball command. My main focus would be trying to tunnel all of my secondaries off my fastball to where all 3 pitches look like a fastball out of the hand.

A special thank you to Kohl (@kohlrf) for taking the time to chat with me.