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Cubs prospect watch, looking ahead to trade deadline · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome into north Side Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.
0:09
Speaker 1: I'm Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are
0:13
Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. Today,
0:17
Speaker 1: we're gonna have a guest Jeff Bonce from Baseball America.
0:23
Speaker 1: Jeff is going to talk about the Cubs farm system,
0:27
Speaker 1: which is, you know, not as brilliant as it felt
0:30
Speaker 1: like it was coming into the season. We've had a
0:32
Speaker 1: lot of graduations here, so you know, a lot of
0:35
Speaker 1: impact from the youth, but still a solid group. I
0:38
Speaker 1: would say we can get Jeff analysis on that before
0:41
Speaker 1: I bring him in. Baseball America is offering thirty percent
0:44
Speaker 1: off for the first year of any annual subscription at
0:47
Speaker 1: BA either web or webprint bundle for our audience with
0:51
Speaker 1: the promo code promo code north Side thirty. All right,
0:54
Speaker 1: let's bring in Jeff. What's up man, Thanks so much
0:58
Speaker 1: for joining us.
1:00
Speaker 2: Happy to be here talking some Cubs with you guys.
1:04
Speaker 1: Let's just start off with how how is this system
1:09
Speaker 1: right now?
1:10
Speaker 3: It?
1:11
Speaker 1: I know technically some of these guys haven't graduated, but
1:14
Speaker 1: with Horton, Shaw and PCA not in the system, anymore.
1:19
Speaker 3: Uh, where where is the system the health of it is? It?
1:23
Speaker 1: Is it deep enough that the Cubs can still feel
1:26
Speaker 1: good about things just in general.
1:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they're in a good spot just from
1:33
Speaker 2: you know, where they're at with the major league team. Obviously,
1:35
Speaker 2: the big question is whether you know, Kyle Tucker resigns
1:39
Speaker 2: or not. But you know, in terms of what you
1:42
Speaker 2: did to make that trade, they didn't have to dig
1:44
Speaker 2: into a lot of the upper miners death that they
1:47
Speaker 2: have that you know, maybe isn't necessarily a fit for
1:51
Speaker 2: you know, a competitive team like the Cubs that has
1:53
Speaker 2: designs on you know, making a run in the playoffs,
1:56
Speaker 2: et cetera. But I do think you know, you can
1:59
Speaker 2: look at moist Spouseos. You did see a little bit
2:01
Speaker 2: of time in the big leagues. You know, Kevin al Kintara,
2:04
Speaker 2: Obviously you've been down a little bit this season. I
2:07
Speaker 2: feel like that's always kind of part for the course
2:09
Speaker 2: without Kantara is he's either super cold or scorching hot
2:13
Speaker 2: for a month and that's kind of how the production
2:15
Speaker 2: comes along. But still a really talented player, a really
2:18
Speaker 2: talented defender in center field. It's just with PCA there
2:21
Speaker 2: and all world defender and center. He's not going to
2:23
Speaker 2: be up. The other one being Owen Casey, who is
2:27
Speaker 2: somebody that I think, you know, teams would definitely be
2:29
Speaker 2: interested in, you know, a very solid defender out in
2:31
Speaker 2: the corner outfield spot. There's big power. Though the strikeout
2:36
Speaker 2: numbers have kind of backed up a little bit this year.
2:38
Speaker 2: The contact skills, the swing decisions that are all sort
2:41
Speaker 2: of in line with what they've been the last two years.
2:43
Speaker 2: So I think for some of these guys, really they
2:47
Speaker 2: kind of need that challenge of getting up to the
2:49
Speaker 2: big leagues and seeing what they can do. You know,
2:53
Speaker 2: for a system that's maybe not ranked among the top
2:55
Speaker 2: five or six. This isn't the Red Sox, this isn't
2:58
Speaker 2: the Mariners or the Brewers or system like that. It
3:01
Speaker 2: is a really talented system, and I do think that
3:03
Speaker 2: they have attractive trade pieces that would you know, be
3:09
Speaker 2: beneficial to a contender at the trade deadline. We're coming
3:13
Speaker 2: into that stretch now that we're hitting mid June, you know,
3:15
Speaker 2: the next six to seven weeks. You know, a lot
3:19
Speaker 2: of these deals of course, are going to get done,
3:21
Speaker 2: and I think the Cubs are in a position to
3:23
Speaker 2: shop in that area. You know, depending upon it whether
3:26
Speaker 2: they want to part with some other guys that have
3:28
Speaker 2: kind of broken out this year on the farm, and
3:30
Speaker 2: I think these are some of the more positive stories.
3:33
Speaker 2: Jefferson Rojas has really been back. They were aggressive with
3:36
Speaker 2: his assignment last year. He's really handled high a differently
3:41
Speaker 2: than he did last year. Still much younger than the
3:44
Speaker 2: average age of competition. There somebody that you know, whether
3:47
Speaker 2: you think he sticks at shortstop or not, is probably
3:49
Speaker 2: going to have value defensively in the infield. So he's
3:53
Speaker 2: an interesting prospect, you know, a secondary prospect in the trade.
3:56
Speaker 2: He's a really good one. And then they've had guys
3:58
Speaker 2: like Jonathan Long. Long just keeps on hitting. It's an
4:02
Speaker 2: unusual profile because there isn't a ton of defensive value.
4:05
Speaker 2: He's not going to play third base. If he could,
4:08
Speaker 2: there's a chance he might have been up with the
4:10
Speaker 2: Cubs already this season, but it's probably gonna be left field,
4:13
Speaker 2: first base. But you look at the underlying data, you
4:16
Speaker 2: look at the performance over the last two years, he
4:19
Speaker 2: sort of checks all those boxes. And for prospects like
4:22
Speaker 2: this that don't have defensive value and are sort of
4:26
Speaker 2: corner outfield, corner infield, sort of hybrid defensive roles, you
4:30
Speaker 2: really have to hit, and he's certainly been doing that.
4:33
Speaker 2: I mean, he's certainly met that challenge. And the last
4:35
Speaker 2: guy that I'll bring up is Jackson Wiggins, who I
4:38
Speaker 2: think has been awesome this year just in terms of
4:41
Speaker 2: taking a step forward with a strike, throwing, commanding the baseball,
4:44
Speaker 2: staying out of the trouble zones, and using his premium
4:48
Speaker 2: stuff to get outs. And he's done that like a
4:51
Speaker 2: starter at a level he really never has dating back
4:53
Speaker 2: to his time at Arkansas. So I think there are
4:55
Speaker 2: some positives here. It's a really good top ten. Outside
4:59
Speaker 2: of the top it does kind of fall off a
5:02
Speaker 2: little quickly, though there there are some high notes maybe
5:04
Speaker 2: later in the list that could be movers over the
5:06
Speaker 2: next month or so.
5:09
Speaker 4: Jeff, you do a great job of covering the Cup
5:11
Speaker 4: system for Baseball America, and you hit on kind of
5:14
Speaker 4: a lot of the names I think people are curious about.
5:16
Speaker 4: I remember in spring training Craig Counsel said kind of
5:20
Speaker 4: as an aside, like we got Johnny Long, and we
5:22
Speaker 4: all kind of looked at each other, like, who's Johnny Long?
5:24
Speaker 4: It sounded like a made up guy, but he sort
5:27
Speaker 4: of popped. Do you think they have enough to like
5:32
Speaker 4: make a big deal Like you mentioned those kind of
5:34
Speaker 4: position players at Triple A some interesting pissing prospects, like
5:38
Speaker 4: do you think Jed has enough to like make Cubs
5:40
Speaker 4: fans on July thirty first big whoa?
5:43
Speaker 3: What what just happened here?
5:45
Speaker 2: You know, I think the possibilities are there, especially as
5:49
Speaker 2: aggressive as they want to get with some of the
5:52
Speaker 2: guys that we talked about as more graduate. Shaw at
5:54
Speaker 2: the time of the list release was has not graduated.
5:57
Speaker 2: He's now graduated. Since you know, Horton obviously right on
6:01
Speaker 2: the line as well. Those are pieces that I mean,
6:04
Speaker 2: maybe not Shaw. It wouldn't shock me if some of
6:07
Speaker 2: these guys are on the table though. And I think
6:09
Speaker 2: when you start to factor in that whole top ten,
6:13
Speaker 2: and then the fact that you know, from eleven to thirty,
6:17
Speaker 2: at least in the list that I've put together working
6:19
Speaker 2: through the system, there's like six or seven young shortstops
6:23
Speaker 2: with upside. Those are great like fiduciary or fourth pieces
6:27
Speaker 2: in a bigger deal. And I think you know, you
6:29
Speaker 2: look at both Balasteros, it's a legitimate bat. You look
6:33
Speaker 2: at Casey, it's a legitimate bat Al Kantara. The jury
6:37
Speaker 2: is still out on whether Bolasteros is going to stick
6:39
Speaker 2: behind the plate. I kind of lean know. But we've
6:44
Speaker 2: also seen a lot of guys. Austin Wells I never
6:46
Speaker 2: thought was going to be a very good defensive catcher.
6:48
Speaker 2: He's turned to a good defensive catcher. Hel Rawley turned
6:51
Speaker 2: into a good defensive catcher. It's something that we as
6:53
Speaker 2: an industry, I think just this prospect evaluators don't do
6:57
Speaker 2: a great job of evaluating catcher defense and kind of
7:00
Speaker 2: where it can scale to. And I think it's because
7:03
Speaker 2: it's such a focused skill that unless you're a catcher,
7:06
Speaker 2: unless you've coached catchers, you probably don't have a great
7:09
Speaker 2: grasp of that sort of thing. So we say that
7:11
Speaker 2: it doesn't mean that it's not it's completely written, or
7:14
Speaker 2: there aren't other teams that maybe see things that Balosterios
7:16
Speaker 2: does and say we can adjust this, we can fix this,
7:19
Speaker 2: and we feel we can get them to a point
7:20
Speaker 2: that you can catch. So I think you look at
7:22
Speaker 2: that you have up the middle guys, which is the
7:24
Speaker 2: biggest part of this. You do have a starting pitcher
7:27
Speaker 2: who has big stuff projects, as you know, a number three,
7:31
Speaker 2: number four sort of at worst another guy that you
7:34
Speaker 2: could move if it's for a bigger starting pitcher, you know,
7:37
Speaker 2: a bigger name, go and see whoever it is that
7:39
Speaker 2: might be out there. You can go and get a
7:42
Speaker 2: deal like that done. And I really think they kind
7:45
Speaker 2: of have the system to get it done. You know,
7:47
Speaker 2: are they going to be able to make a Soto
7:50
Speaker 2: level kind of trade. No, but I don't think there's
7:52
Speaker 2: any talents of that level that are available. And if
7:55
Speaker 2: we go back to last year's trade deadline, there really
7:58
Speaker 2: weren't any top one hundred prospects traded at all. Augustin
8:01
Speaker 2: Ramirez is really the only one that you could probably
8:04
Speaker 2: you know, quote a little bit and say, yeah, I
8:06
Speaker 2: think Ramire should have been a top one hundred prospect
8:08
Speaker 2: at that point in time. Even then, it's kind of
8:10
Speaker 2: fringy another catcher who's not as good of a hitter
8:13
Speaker 2: as Boasteros and had similar, if not worse, defensive questions
8:18
Speaker 2: behind the plate. So I think we can even just
8:20
Speaker 2: look at recent history and prospects hold a lot more value,
8:25
Speaker 2: especially guys that are major league level players already, and
8:30
Speaker 2: you have four or five of those, maybe more at
8:32
Speaker 2: the top of the system, and some of those guys
8:35
Speaker 2: to fill in one name that I think if I
8:37
Speaker 2: was a Cubs fan, I would sort of be a
8:39
Speaker 2: little nervous about them trading, especially with how the Zayre
8:42
Speaker 2: Hope thing has gone. Now that you're upset that you
8:44
Speaker 2: got Michael Bush. He's been a great player, but I
8:47
Speaker 2: don't think they necessarily knew what they were trading when
8:50
Speaker 2: they trade away zyr Hope. Is Eli Lovich. He's been
8:53
Speaker 2: awesome down in the Arizona Complex League. It's a super projectable,
8:57
Speaker 2: left handed hitting outfielder with athleticism. He's six', four you,
9:01
Speaker 2: know sort of has that build of like AN nfl
9:04
Speaker 2: wide receiver or a tight end in terms of broad,
9:06
Speaker 2: shoulders and you, know a projectable bill where you know
9:09
Speaker 2: he's going to add some more. Strength to, me he's
9:12
Speaker 2: a guy that just jumped onto this list on the back.
9:14
Speaker 2: End if you told me in a month he ranks
9:17
Speaker 2: top fifteen in the, system it wouldn't shock, me BECAUSE
9:19
Speaker 2: i do think there's maybe more upside. There it's just
9:21
Speaker 2: we didn't have a great grasp of him and his.
9:24
Speaker 2: Talent even as an. Amateur he was kind of a
9:26
Speaker 2: two way, guy didn't go to some of the big.
9:28
Speaker 2: Events so it was another great draft mind by The.
9:30
Speaker 2: Cubs and LIKE i, said with your history With hope
9:33
Speaker 2: as A cubs, FAN i THINK i THINK i would
9:35
Speaker 2: be a little bit nervous about him potentially getting added
9:38
Speaker 2: to a. Trade of, course it's a big enough deal
9:40
Speaker 2: and it's going to get you to the playoffs and
9:42
Speaker 2: sort of push you over the. Edge how do you
9:43
Speaker 2: win that, division et. Cetera probably worth, It we've seen
9:47
Speaker 2: that with The Michael bush. Trade BUT i do think
9:49
Speaker 2: kind of answering the question extremely, LONG i do think
9:52
Speaker 2: that there's a lot of stuff in the system and
9:54
Speaker 2: a lot of different ways that they could sort of
9:56
Speaker 2: attack that trade. Deadline it's an interesting ST i think
10:00
Speaker 2: from from a trading, perspective this team might be the
10:03
Speaker 2: most interesting team out of all thirty that we.
10:05
Speaker 3: COVERED i think they do know what they have With.
10:09
Speaker 1: Lovich i'm not sure how you know if they'd be
10:12
Speaker 1: willing to move. Him BUT i recently talked to some
10:14
Speaker 1: people and that was the name THAT i brought up
10:16
Speaker 1: BECAUSE i in exactly how you, Did BECAUSE i was,
10:19
Speaker 1: like is this like Another hope type situation where nobody
10:22
Speaker 1: really knows who he is and he could shoot Up,
10:25
Speaker 1: uh he JUST i think he just got promoted To
10:28
Speaker 1: Myrtle beach If i'm almost POSITIVE i saw him believe.
10:32
Speaker 1: Box yeah, yeah so that he is someone that's exciting
10:35
Speaker 1: and that's that's that's a good name to.
10:38
Speaker 3: WATCH i.
10:38
Speaker 1: Agree, uh let's take a quick break AND i have
10:41
Speaker 1: a couple of questions about other.
10:43
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Speaker 1: Chubbies, jeff two names and one isn't on the top.
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Speaker 1: Thirty so maybe maybe you guys haven't been getting any
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Speaker 1: good reports or much info on, Them so SO i
11:56
Speaker 1: apologize if that's the. Case but tice out to see
12:01
Speaker 1: is someone that, coming like after they drafted. HIM i
12:04
Speaker 1: heard about, him BUT i guess the numbers aren't that
12:09
Speaker 1: great so. Far and then another name THAT i heard
12:12
Speaker 1: in spring, training and that kind of is like THE
12:15
Speaker 1: i would, say like The cleveland prototype of throw. Strikes
12:19
Speaker 1: let's hope we can tease more stuff out.
12:21
Speaker 3: Of him Is Ryan?
12:21
Speaker 1: Gallagher what what have you heard about both those? Guys
12:25
Speaker 1: AND i like how and when you're looking at numbers
12:29
Speaker 1: for guy like, south a scene like should we is
12:32
Speaker 1: that concerning? Right or is it way too early to
12:35
Speaker 1: in his pro career to even get worried about that?
12:39
Speaker 3: Stuff?
12:39
Speaker 2: Yeah and we had, he's, uh he's still on the.
12:42
Speaker 2: List he's he's down at number twenty. Two you know
12:45
Speaker 2: it's it's funny you said The cleveland prototype On. GALLAGHER
12:49
Speaker 2: i kind of think. Soelth the scene is a bit
12:51
Speaker 2: of The cleveland prototype as. Well undersized middle infielder probably
12:56
Speaker 2: ends up at second base long. Term you, know there's
13:00
Speaker 2: not a lot of pop, here but there is plate,
13:05
Speaker 2: skills bats to ball. Skills but the big question, is you,
13:10
Speaker 2: know is their. Power certainly a guy that can can
13:14
Speaker 2: find the barrel just in terms of you, know actual
13:19
Speaker 2: good angles on, contact who is they're not barrels if
13:22
Speaker 2: you're not hitting the ball ninety five plus miles an.
13:24
Speaker 2: Hour he's not doing that on a consistent, Basis AND
13:27
Speaker 2: i think that's why when you dig into some of
13:30
Speaker 2: the numbers on a guy like, this you can kind
13:33
Speaker 2: of almost reverse hack some of the struggles and sort
13:36
Speaker 2: of the prototype of like the style of. Player he's
13:39
Speaker 2: walking at a really high rate in his first taste
13:43
Speaker 2: of full season ball over a month or. So the
13:46
Speaker 2: strikeout rate is lower than the walk, rate but it's
13:49
Speaker 2: a two to eleven batting average on balls and. Play
13:51
Speaker 2: what that tells me is he's just not making enough.
13:54
Speaker 2: Impact still not hitting the ball hard. Enough angles are
13:57
Speaker 2: a bit of an issue for. Him you, know it's
14:00
Speaker 2: a sixteen percent fly ball, rate it's a near sixty
14:03
Speaker 2: percent ground ball. Rate he's hitting a ton of infield fly,
14:07
Speaker 2: balls so when he is trying to sort of, elevate
14:09
Speaker 2: he's getting too far under the. Ball, so you, KNOW
14:12
Speaker 2: i think it's another one of these, Guys and we
14:14
Speaker 2: see this a lot with these high school players where
14:16
Speaker 2: it takes a year or two for it to. Gel
14:19
Speaker 2: it's not outlier hit tool. Skills it's the reason that
14:22
Speaker 2: he got a million dollars and you, know wasn't drafted
14:24
Speaker 2: at the same point as like A Gone agill a
14:26
Speaker 2: few years ago or something like. That that kind of
14:28
Speaker 2: falls into the same sort of like bucketing of. Player
14:32
Speaker 2: just he's sort of you, know one guy's The mic
14:34
Speaker 2: rout of that that bucket, type and you know the
14:37
Speaker 2: other one is sort of The Nick. Madrigal SO i
14:40
Speaker 2: think that's kind of what the issue is, here is
14:42
Speaker 2: like it's. Projectable he can he's got decent actions in the.
14:45
Speaker 2: INFIELD i think he's a solid. Player but when you're
14:49
Speaker 2: sort of dealing with these guys that don't have outlier,
14:52
Speaker 2: athleticism that don't have outlier, impact the upside just isn't as,
14:56
Speaker 2: great and often it's a little bumpier in terms of
14:59
Speaker 2: like you know that initial descent into into pro. Ball
15:03
Speaker 2: and you, KNOW i think you can compare and contrast
15:05
Speaker 2: a guy Like lovich with this. Guy and it's the
15:08
Speaker 2: reason that there's a lot of. TEAMS i. Think you
15:09
Speaker 2: see it with The, dodgers you see it with The,
15:11
Speaker 2: mariners you see it with The. Astros they get more
15:14
Speaker 2: out of some of these later round picks because the
15:16
Speaker 2: way that they're evaluating is they're looking at. Athleticism they're
15:19
Speaker 2: not just looking at what does the model say in
15:22
Speaker 2: terms of this guy's strikeout rate versus his walk, rate et,
15:25
Speaker 2: Cetera and does he have you, know enough impact that
15:27
Speaker 2: maybe we can we can squint and see forty five
15:31
Speaker 2: or fifty. Power SO i think in a lot of,
15:33
Speaker 2: ways this is very much like a product of how
15:36
Speaker 2: The cubs. Draft they're they're a heavy model. Team so
15:40
Speaker 2: some of those upside guys don't really come until the later,
15:43
Speaker 2: rounds and those are those are more scouting. FINDS i
15:45
Speaker 2: think those are the help excuse, me the, hopes the Lovic,
15:48
Speaker 2: is those kind of, guys you. Know as for as For,
15:52
Speaker 2: GALLAGHER i think you're right to say, that you, know
15:56
Speaker 2: it's it's not all that different from a typical sort
16:01
Speaker 2: of guardians focus or attack in terms of the types
16:04
Speaker 2: of players that they draft late in the. Drafts college,
16:08
Speaker 2: guys mid major guy had some success in, college good strike.
16:13
Speaker 2: Throwers you, know he had a you, know a two
16:17
Speaker 2: twenty two E ra in his his final year At Santa,
16:20
Speaker 2: barbara and the numbers have been really good in his pro.
16:24
Speaker 2: Debut you, know, HI, A i understand it's The Midwest.
16:27
Speaker 2: League he's a little bit older at twenty, two but
16:29
Speaker 2: it's fairly age. Appropriate it is a great place to,
16:34
Speaker 2: pitch especially over the first few months of the season
16:37
Speaker 2: when it's very cold up. There it's kind of the
16:39
Speaker 2: same with The Eastern. League you're not you're not getting
16:42
Speaker 2: the benefit of you, know flogballs sort of traveling as
16:45
Speaker 2: far as they do in The Cal league or they
16:47
Speaker 2: do in The Texas, league or of course they do
16:49
Speaker 2: in The Pacific Coast. League so some of those numbers
16:52
Speaker 2: are probably a question. Mark BUT i think you look
16:56
Speaker 2: at what he's done so, far going deeper into, Starts
16:59
Speaker 2: he's throwing strike, consistently he's not giving up a lot
17:02
Speaker 2: of hard. Contact he's getting more k's THAN i probably
17:06
Speaker 2: would anticipate long. Term but that's certainly Good it shows
17:09
Speaker 2: that he has command and the ability to sort of
17:11
Speaker 2: hit certain spots in the zone and keep batters that
17:14
Speaker 2: you know should be off balance against him off. Balance
17:17
Speaker 2: SO i think that was a great. Get he's a
17:19
Speaker 2: guy that's kind of creeping on to the back end
17:21
Speaker 2: of the. List it's just a matter for me of
17:23
Speaker 2: seeing what he looks, like you, know once he gets
17:26
Speaker 2: up to DOUBLE, a once he gets To knoxville faces
17:29
Speaker 2: Some southerlyan. Competition there's some great lineups in that, league
17:33
Speaker 2: and there's a lot of great power, hitters AND i
17:35
Speaker 2: just kind of want to see how all of that
17:37
Speaker 2: scales sort of checks the boxes in terms of the strike,
17:40
Speaker 2: throwing the pitchability part of it kind of has that
17:44
Speaker 2: starter foundation bigger bill at like six, three two hundred
17:47
Speaker 2: pounds or, so so sort of a prototypical build as. Well,
17:51
Speaker 2: so you, KNOW i think With, gallagher it's one of
17:53
Speaker 2: these guys where it's been a nice fine for, them
17:56
Speaker 2: but it's hard with a twenty two year old right
17:58
Speaker 2: hander who spent a couple years facing good college, competition
18:03
Speaker 2: even if it was you, know mid major stuff on
18:05
Speaker 2: The West. Coast, still you, Know Santa barbara plays an
18:07
Speaker 2: excellent schedule and plays a lot of good, games you,
18:11
Speaker 2: know out of. Conference SO i think for a guy like,
18:13
Speaker 2: THIS i got to see it in DOUBLE a and
18:15
Speaker 2: sort of, see all, right like is he still getting?
18:17
Speaker 2: Outs is he still you, know as efficient as he?
18:20
Speaker 2: Was or when that degree of difficulty, rises does you
18:24
Speaker 2: know he sort of wilt a little, Bit so he's
18:27
Speaker 2: kind of on that edge of, like all, right this
18:29
Speaker 2: guy could make a jump you, know, five, six, seven,
18:31
Speaker 2: eight nine spots into the next top thirty. Ranking but
18:35
Speaker 2: also there's sometimes some fools gold with college starters who
18:38
Speaker 2: have dominant you know looks for a month or two
18:41
Speaker 2: in you, know a.
18:42
Speaker 4: Ball, JEFF i just want to zoom out for a
18:46
Speaker 4: second and give you a chance, TO i don't, know
18:49
Speaker 4: maybe take a victory lap since you were. On last
18:52
Speaker 4: time you were, on you were definitely pounding the table
18:54
Speaker 4: For Matt. Shaw and you have great you, know background
18:57
Speaker 4: and history with him as A massachusetts guy who played
19:01
Speaker 4: in The. Cape what have you made of his first you,
19:04
Speaker 4: know almost half of a season in the majors of
19:08
Speaker 4: debuting In, tokyo The cubs give him the quick hook
19:11
Speaker 4: and comes back and looks like he's the missing piece
19:15
Speaker 4: and sort of solves their issues for third base perhaps
19:19
Speaker 4: for a long. Time how how have you Processed Matt
19:23
Speaker 4: shaw's introduction and reintroduction to the big.
19:25
Speaker 2: Leagues, YEAH i, think you, know it's important and we
19:29
Speaker 2: say this a, lot and you, KNOW i think for some,
19:32
Speaker 2: people especially you, know readers and, listeners it feels like
19:35
Speaker 2: a cop out with prospect. Coverage but you have to
19:37
Speaker 2: be patient with these. Guys and there's such a huge
19:40
Speaker 2: adjustment to the major, leagues particularly for. Hitters now The
19:45
Speaker 2: TRIPLE a strike zones frankly haven't done hitters or, PITCHERS
19:50
Speaker 2: i think really any favors In TRIPLE. A they're a
19:53
Speaker 2: lot tighter than they are at the major league. Level
19:55
Speaker 2: the difference between it used to sort of be a
20:00
Speaker 2: slight sort of progression through the, miners where you got
20:04
Speaker 2: a little bit more space in the complex you get
20:06
Speaker 2: a little bit less, space and low a little bit less,
20:08
Speaker 2: space and high, eight so on and so. Forth and
20:10
Speaker 2: now it sort of went from DOUBLE a to Like
20:13
Speaker 2: TRIPLE a up to like the, majors and you have
20:15
Speaker 2: bigger zones in the majors than you have In TRIPLE.
20:18
Speaker 2: A now they went away from the god awful entirely
20:25
Speaker 2: LIKE abs systems trying to think of the, acronym but
20:31
Speaker 2: THE abs system was awful and the challenge system is,
20:34
Speaker 2: better but your margin FOR era is so. Thin and
20:38
Speaker 2: so What i'm saying is like with hitters Like, shaw
20:41
Speaker 2: they get that margin FOR. Era so it's almost like
20:44
Speaker 2: that adjustment up to the major leagues and facing better
20:46
Speaker 2: competition and maybe getting a little bit more benefits of
20:49
Speaker 2: the doubts on. Strikes they're getting way more benefit of
20:52
Speaker 2: the doubt on. Strikes and there's guys that will probably
20:55
Speaker 2: never have ten percent walk rates in the big leagues
20:57
Speaker 2: that have eleven, percent twelve percent walk it's in TRIPLE
21:00
Speaker 2: a simply because they know how to use the, challenges
21:03
Speaker 2: they know about the, AutoZone et. Cetera that being, SAID
21:06
Speaker 2: i think you look at a guy Like. Shaw he's
21:09
Speaker 2: been successful at every level of baseball throughout his, life
21:13
Speaker 2: and he's had struggles before and made. Adjustments AND i
21:17
Speaker 2: think sometimes when you get when you get up to
21:19
Speaker 2: the major leagues for a lot of these, guys AND
21:21
Speaker 2: i Think Red sox fans are maybe going through this
21:22
Speaker 2: a little bit like A Roman anthony right now after three,
21:25
Speaker 2: games where it's you don't know what you don't. Know
21:28
Speaker 2: you get up to the big, leagues you haven't faced
21:31
Speaker 2: a big league starter multiple times or had to face
21:34
Speaker 2: big league starters every day for five consecutive. Days that is.
21:38
Speaker 2: New it's impossible to replicate unless you're in the big.
21:41
Speaker 2: Leagues and sometimes guys get lucky and they face a
21:45
Speaker 2: bunch of bad arms and things go well and the
21:48
Speaker 2: numbers go, up and then they have to adjust. Afterward
21:50
Speaker 2: Christian campbell's a perfect example of. That he looked like
21:52
Speaker 2: AN mvp candidate for two weeks and then has very
21:55
Speaker 2: much fallen back down to the. Pack SO i think For,
21:58
Speaker 2: shaw And i'm, shocked it was just a matter of
22:01
Speaker 2: knowing what he had to adjust and the sort of
22:03
Speaker 2: things that he had to work. On AND i always
22:06
Speaker 2: felt with a guy like this and just the work
22:07
Speaker 2: ethic and just the type of mentality he takes to
22:10
Speaker 2: the work that he would figure it out and sort
22:12
Speaker 2: of get over those. Hurdles AND i think we're seeing
22:15
Speaker 2: that now since he's been called back, up as you,
22:17
Speaker 2: mentioned you, know two ninety nine three one NINETEEN wrc
22:20
Speaker 2: plus sixty under a sixteen percent strikeout, rate you, know
22:25
Speaker 2: and is providing them some you, know some additional length
22:28
Speaker 2: in that, lineup which is something that they. Lack so,
22:31
Speaker 2: YEAH i think it's just a matter of being patient
22:33
Speaker 2: with guys like. This he's only twenty three years old
22:36
Speaker 2: and has a long road ahead of him in the big.
22:38
Speaker 1: Leagues, yeah and NOW i know you're not able to
22:42
Speaker 1: watch him every every.
22:43
Speaker 3: Game but the defense isn't just good.
22:46
Speaker 1: It i've been taken aback by how like it's plus
22:50
Speaker 1: he made a play the other night that in the
22:53
Speaker 1: ninth inning on a high hopper charging bare handing and
22:57
Speaker 1: firing to first THAT i was just, like, no that
22:59
Speaker 1: that it's not supposed to be in his tool box
23:01
Speaker 1: and everything that we heard that, was you, know questionable at. Defense,
23:06
Speaker 1: no there's no questions, anymore not in my mind What
23:10
Speaker 1: i've seen from. Them let's take a quick break and
23:12
Speaker 1: wrap up With.
23:12
Speaker 5: Jeff if you're one of those on the go, people
23:15
Speaker 5: or you're skipping meals but you don't want, to.
23:18
Speaker 2: There's got to be a quicker. Solution we've got one for.
23:21
Speaker 2: You it's Called.
23:22
Speaker 5: Hwel i'm going to take a. Swig cheers To. Hewel
23:25
Speaker 5: this is the black addition plant based as.
23:27
Speaker 2: Well good for. Me but what do you like about.
23:30
Speaker 6: IT i like the nutrition of, it and the replacement
23:33
Speaker 6: meal is great for me someone always on the, go like,
23:36
Speaker 6: MAN i can just grab one of these out of my, fridge, lunch,
23:38
Speaker 6: breakfast whatever it, takes whatever Meal i'm not gonna have
23:40
Speaker 6: time to. Eat it fills me up and it tastes.
23:44
Speaker 6: Great you know, why because it tastes like, milkshake ice,
23:46
Speaker 6: cream whatever you want to call. It whatever flavor you
23:48
Speaker 6: get is.
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Speaker 1: Nutrition Bottled, JEFF i wanted to touch on a couple of.
24:17
Speaker 1: Pictures bird sells hurt so he's, UH i think. IT
24:22
Speaker 1: i heard over there WHILE i was out on the
24:24
Speaker 1: road that maybe he'll be back In.
24:26
Speaker 3: July But i'm curious your thoughts on.
24:29
Speaker 1: You you touched On Jackson, wiggins but what what has
24:32
Speaker 1: allowed him to kind of take this, step uh and
24:36
Speaker 1: and kind of you, know it seems like he's on
24:38
Speaker 1: the verge of becoming like a top one hundred prospect
24:41
Speaker 1: or maybe Maybe i'm wrong on.
24:44
Speaker 3: That you can let me. Know and then With Will,
24:46
Speaker 3: sanders what are your thoughts on?
24:48
Speaker 2: Him, yeah you, KNOW i, think, uh you, know two
24:53
Speaker 2: different guys here that you, know had uh some success
25:00
Speaker 2: over the last couple of years big college, programs you,
25:03
Speaker 2: know BOTH sec. GUYS i think the thing With wiggins
25:06
Speaker 2: for me is the stuff has always been, there you,
25:10
Speaker 2: know sort of struggled over two seasons With, arkansas but
25:15
Speaker 2: it's so hard with THE sec and the goofiness of
25:19
Speaker 2: college bats over the last couple of, years there's just
25:23
Speaker 2: so many illegal, bats AND i think a lot of
25:25
Speaker 2: these bats that sort of TESTS bb core aren't playing
25:28
Speaker 2: LIKE bb. Core, frankly if you watch any college, baseball
25:32
Speaker 2: you don't understand WHAT i. Mean So eers you can
25:35
Speaker 2: kind of just throw out the. Window you, know there's
25:37
Speaker 2: there's no reflection of sort of. Quality there's all these
25:40
Speaker 2: guys that are major league starters that have lower eras
25:43
Speaker 2: three years later in the major leagues that they had
25:45
Speaker 2: in THE. Sec SO i think there were some of,
25:47
Speaker 2: that he then Has Tommy john surgery he has to
25:50
Speaker 2: recover from. That you, know has very limited innings last,
25:54
Speaker 2: year you, know eighteen total STARTS i think, about you,
25:57
Speaker 2: know sixty innings across sort of lower. Level so for,
26:01
Speaker 2: me this is the stuff that was always there With.
26:04
Speaker 2: Wiggins he had a full normal off season for the
26:08
Speaker 2: first time as a professional with professional. Coaching Though arkansas's
26:12
Speaker 2: development is out honestly phenomenal for a COLLEGE i think
26:16
Speaker 2: it's THAT i think we're just seeing this guy's you,
26:19
Speaker 2: know sort of blossoming right like he's coming out of
26:24
Speaker 2: the cocoon, now and we're seeing the stuff. Play we're
26:27
Speaker 2: seeing more strike. Throwing you can tell based on how
26:30
Speaker 2: he's attacking a lot of these, batters especially as you
26:33
Speaker 2: See wiggins multiple times against the same, teams because that
26:37
Speaker 2: happens in these. Levels they don't play the Different DOUBLE a,
26:39
Speaker 2: league so he's only facing Souther lean. Tigues you've seen
26:43
Speaker 2: all these teams at this point In. June he's seen
26:45
Speaker 2: these guys at least once, already and you're seeing the game.
26:48
Speaker 2: Planning that's all the stuff of taking the step forward
26:53
Speaker 2: as a guy who just has big stuff in college
26:55
Speaker 2: to a real, professional and because of when his injury,
26:58
Speaker 2: happened he never had that opportunity to sort of jump
27:01
Speaker 2: into the rotation At arkansas and figure those things. Out
27:05
Speaker 2: SO i think it's, just you, know for the first,
27:07
Speaker 2: time we're seeing a really talented pitcher who had he been,
27:10
Speaker 2: healthy maybe he isn't there where The cubs get him
27:13
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty, Three and now That i'm into, FRUITION
27:16
Speaker 2: i do think he's a potential top one hundred. Prospects
27:20
Speaker 2: we have Five cubs on the. List you, know he's
27:24
Speaker 2: kind of got Al kantara in his. WAY i think
27:26
Speaker 2: he could jump him in the next update if he
27:28
Speaker 2: keeps up this. Performance isn't no reason to think he.
27:30
Speaker 2: Can't he is a guy THAT i do think is
27:33
Speaker 2: sort of on the cusp of the top. One as For,
27:37
Speaker 2: sanders he was a guy that had huge draft pedigreek
27:42
Speaker 2: sort of going into his draft eligible year and then
27:46
Speaker 2: was really bad in THE sec that drops him down
27:50
Speaker 2: to the fourth. Round cubs were able to scoop him
27:52
Speaker 2: up for six hundred. Thousand you, know solid starts across
27:57
Speaker 2: HIGH a think he made twenty two starts us year
28:00
Speaker 2: If i'm not, Mistaken but big, body you, know six
28:04
Speaker 2: foot six starters traits really good three pitch. Mix the
28:08
Speaker 2: stuff doesn't jump off the. Page it is up a
28:10
Speaker 2: little bit this, year BUT i think a lot of
28:14
Speaker 2: it comes down to his ability to just locate and
28:19
Speaker 2: stay out of trouble, zones which when you don't have
28:21
Speaker 2: an elite Fastball Lika Jackson wiggins, has you sort of
28:26
Speaker 2: have a lot less margin for error in the. Zone
28:28
Speaker 2: but he's hitting those spots and he's using those good.
28:31
Speaker 2: Secondaries the slider's gotten better this, year and his change
28:34
Speaker 2: up is above average to borderline. Plus so you, KNOW
28:38
Speaker 2: i don't think he's somebody that projects as a number
28:40
Speaker 2: two or an ace or anything like. THAT i think high.
28:45
Speaker 2: End if things go swimmingly over the next couple of,
28:47
Speaker 2: years you, know he's he's a number three. Starter but
28:50
Speaker 2: more than likely it's it's a back end rotation guy
28:53
Speaker 2: four or five that can give you one hundred and
28:56
Speaker 2: sixty to one hundred and eighty plus innings every single,
28:58
Speaker 2: season and it's really valuable in this day and, age
29:02
Speaker 2: and it's another piece that might be valuable on the
29:04
Speaker 2: trade market for folks as. Well so you, know neither
29:07
Speaker 2: of these guys like added some new crazy pitch or
29:10
Speaker 2: had this huge jump in terms of. Velocity the stuff
29:13
Speaker 2: picked up a little, Bit BUT i really think a
29:15
Speaker 2: lot of it is just coming down to execution and game.
29:17
Speaker 3: Planning, jeff thank you for your.
29:20
Speaker 4: Insight like the MORE i listen to you and, like
29:24
Speaker 4: if this pitcher's clicking and he's, healthy so you just
29:28
Speaker 4: got to like move those. Guys like if you have
29:29
Speaker 4: a you have a good major league, team and those,
29:31
Speaker 4: guys if something, clicks you have no idea how long
29:34
Speaker 4: that's gonna. Last i'd imagine there're gonna be some analytically
29:38
Speaker 4: inclined teams that are gonna be maybe intrigued by that
29:41
Speaker 4: or some of the you, know even the scouting heavy
29:42
Speaker 4: teams That jed's gonna have a lot of a lot
29:45
Speaker 4: of trade chips to to bring to the, table no.
29:48
Speaker 2: DOUBT i, mean teams pay millions and millions of dollars
29:51
Speaker 2: for number, four number five, starters AND i think people
29:54
Speaker 2: kind of forget that you a guy that can come
29:56
Speaker 2: right in and give you some. Innings there's value to.
30:00
Speaker 2: THAT i, MEAN i think we've kind of seen The
30:01
Speaker 2: athletics build a little bit that, way not that they've
30:04
Speaker 2: had a ton of, success but we are starting to
30:06
Speaker 2: see some signs that that team's on the come up.
30:09
Speaker 2: Too so you, KNOW i think there's other teams that
30:11
Speaker 2: can look to that and say going out and getting you,
30:14
Speaker 2: know sort of this cash and building you, know up
30:17
Speaker 2: this bank of starters and guys that can provide innings
30:19
Speaker 2: eight to nine. Guys you, know over the course of a.
30:22
Speaker 2: Season to get five, starters you probably need nine of
30:24
Speaker 2: them in your. System otherwise you're going to be looking
30:27
Speaker 2: for outside, helping no.
30:29
Speaker 1: Doubt, jeff thanks so much for joining. Us really appreciate.
30:32
Speaker 1: It we'll We'll i'm sure we'll talk to you again
30:34
Speaker 1: soon whenever the lists are, updated whether it's offseason or spring, training,
30:38
Speaker 1: whenever whenever it, is we'll have you back on and
30:41
Speaker 1: Talk cubs.
30:42
Speaker 3: Prospect always.
30:43
Speaker 2: Fun appreciate, it, absolutely talk to you guys In thanks,
30:46
Speaker 2: man take.
30:47
Speaker 3: Care.
30:48
Speaker 1: UH i wanted to run that deal by you guys
30:53
Speaker 1: one more. Time Baseball america is offering thirty percent off
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Speaker 1: promo code North side. THIRTY i think you can scan
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Speaker 1: that code right below there all, Right, patrick let's wrap this.
31:09
Speaker 1: Up thanks so much for listening to. Everyone this is
31:11
Speaker 1: North Side. Territory make sure to, rate, review, subscribe subscribe
31:15
Speaker 1: to the YouTube, channel and subscribe To The athletic Where
31:18
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31:20
Speaker 3: Cubs thanks for listening to. Everyone take