Pete Crow-Armstrong – Picture by Todd Johnson

It has been a while since I’ve done 10 things I think. And there’s not a theme to today. Originally, it was gonna be 10 things I think about MLB Pipeline’s top 100 and the newest Cubs’ top 30 list. But I couldn’t come up with 10 things. As result, I decided to expand the parameters of the post.

Let’s get going.

1. You can tell that this season is getting a little long in the tooth as some of the younger prospects in the system are beginning to fade a little bit at the end of the year. The grind of a 140 game schedule is now down to about 20 games left in class A. That’s a lot more than last year where they played much fewer games. Hopefully, they’ll learn to take care of their bodies better along with their minds.

2. Zac Leigh began his Tennessee career on Wednesday night and it was fabulous debut where he struck out two batters but not with a slider. He got both guys with his fastball. So that was cool to see. I don’t think he’s going to be long in Tennessee next year either.

3. I would not get too down in the dumps about the performance of Cristian Hernandez this year. He hasn’t hit as many home runs as we’ve expected, but that’s on us, not him. He also has not hit for much of an average as w

e’d like either and he’s striking out at a pretty high rate. He is still just 18. Give him some time. He is the type of athlete who once it clicks you can forget about it ever not clicking.

4. I thought it was pretty cool to see Kevin Alcântara get into a MLB Pipeline‘s top 100 prospects. I was a little disappointed that they dropped Caleb Kilian and Cristian Hernandez from that list. Still, the Cubs have three and were rated the number nine system in the minors.

5. After getting to watch Pete Crow-Armstrong most of June and July and part of August in person, it’s hard to describe how special he is. Right now he’s achieving at a pretty good level, but he can get a lot better and he would be the first one to tell you that. If he achieves his ceiling, he’s going to be a very special player in centerfield every day. I’m excited to see him take the next step in his career at Tennessee next year.

6. The Cubs have had one Arizona Complex League team the past two years due to the 180 man roster limit. This year, a lot of prospects didn’t really get to play a whole lot because a lot of rehabbers. I doubt the Cubs go to two teams next year because a lot of players in the Dominican probably did not earn a trip stateside.

7. Originally, Jim Callis said that he had Alexander Canario at number seven on the Cubs top 30 list last week. He did drop him a little bit when the list actually came out to nine which is fine. But it is good to see that other people are starting to recognize that Canario is pretty close to being a five tool beast. I’m excited for him to get the next chance in his development.

8. It’s still a little early for me to start putting things down in black-and-white about who the Cubs are going to protect for the 40-man. There’s over 70 guys who are eligible for the rule five draft and the Cubs probably have a short list of about 15 names they are considering. They’re gonna have to get that down to about seven or eight unless they make wholesale changes on the big league roster to open up spots. 

9. I hope that next week at this time we’ll get to see Pedro Ramirez and Cristian Hernandez in Myrtle Beach.

10. I am hoping that both Tennessee and South Bend can get on a hot streak here and make the playoffs to join Myrtle Beach. That would be really cool to have three affiliates in the playoffs.