Feature photo of Luis Devers by Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22)

What I’m Reading

Believe it or not, we are officially less than a month out from the MLB Draft. Since I’ve teamed up with Greg Z and Todd here at NSB, I’ve been able to rely on their draft knowledge and let them do the thinking and researching for me. Todd put together a draft Q&A literally this morning and it’s a great read. In addition, Greg Z’s Top 100 Draft prospects is always a good place to start if you’re looking for guys to do your own research on!

As you guys probably know, I also write and podcast through Cubs Insider in addition to my work here at NSB. I’ve been penning Weekly Farm Reports over there since the beginning of the 2019 season, but that’s gonna change. After 53 editions of that report, I’m changing up my coverage to be a little more in-depth over there.

• Aram Leighton is damn good with his prospect coverage and does it in such a fun way. He was down in Pensacola last week and caught plenty of Smokies action. He’s got notes on some Cubs prospects including Ryan Jensen, Alexander Canario, and Jake Slaughter.

What I’m Watching

• Kevin Made is so much different than he was a year ago. Look at his hips absolutely explode through the box on this double. That ability, along with the muscle he’s added, might mean that there’s plenty more power in that bat than we originally figured.

• They might not come around as often as my Brennen Davis home run tracker, but I will always make sure I’m sharing James Triantos bombs.

• Ryan Jensen’s new arm action is a big deal, folks. I know you’ve read plenty of people talking about it on social media, but it should be discussed even more. If he feels comfortable with the change, then it could do wonders for his repeatability, control, and command. I mean look at the differences here.

• Hitting a homer off a future Hall of Famer? No big deal there except for the fact that it’s a HUGE deal.

• This thread from Brad highlights exactly why we are all so excited about the future for Kevin Alcántara. He does it all.

• Luis Devers. Whiffs.

What We’re Tweeting

• It’s great that Pinango went 4-4 at the plate on Tuesday night, but we already knew he could do that. What catches my eye even more is the 20-year-old manning center field. If that’s something he can do long-term, that dramatically changes his future value.

• I never know where to say “yo we released a new pod” in these articles. Today, I’m putting it in this section. This was a fun episode, covering some super crucial things in the Cubs farm system and how they might impact the big league club.

• You know, I can’t really explain what we’re seeing from Caleb Kilian in Chicago. His lost control isn’t something we’ve really seen before. Maybe it’s the baseballs, maybe it’s nerves, maybe it’s just a bad luck string of games.

• This is quite the grouping of names. All dudes who mash. All dudes that warrant our attention in some capacity.

• I know I probably talk about Luis Devers too much but I can’t help it when the guy is putting up numbers that look like this.

• No official word on what’s going on with Ethan Roberts but just in watching the video from his outing last week in which he had to come out with the trainer, things aren’t looking so good. Hoping it’s a quick recovery for Ethan, no matter what the injury is.

• Brennen Davis vs Kevin Alcántara. Not saying, but I’m just sayin’

What’s Catching My Eye

• Listen, I get that the Cubs are in a bit of a roster crunch thanks to injuries and really only have prospects on their 40-man roster. But you simply can’t call up Nelson Velazquez to Chicago only to have him ride the bench in favor of Jason Heyward in right field on a daily basis. And for Davis Ross to compare his situation to Clint Frazier, one that he clearly screwed up, is so twisted and embarrassing.