Matt Mervis – By Micah Manuel/Tennessee Smokies

We are in the homestretch now. South Bend and Myrtle Beach have just 12 games left while Tennessee has three weeks and Iowa still has a month to go. For the first time since the beginning of the season, I wondered if I was going to have enough information for the post today. There just was not a lot of news happening in other publications.

Pictures of the Week

Stephanie Lynn, a long time friend of North Side Bound, spent the week with Myrtle Beach and got a lot of cool shots of Pelicans players even in the Pirate gear, which is my favorite uniform in the whole system.

Hottest Hitting Prospect List

MLB Pipeline released a “hottest hitting prospect in each organization” list this week and the Cubs had none other than Matt Mervis. It was interesting to see that in print and then hear a further discussion on the topic by Jim Callis on the “Road to Wrigley.” Here is what he wrote on Pipeline.

A 2020 nondrafted free agent from Duke, Mervis has emerged as one of the Cubs’ best left-handed power prospects this season. He has hit .292/.360/.494 with three homers in his last 24 Triple-A games and a combined .309/.368/.590 with 25 homers in 107 games across three levels. He ranks third in the Minors in doubles (35), extra-base hits (62) and RBI (96).

The week, I saw Mervis Just destroy a baseball. It’s one of the hardest hit balls I’ve seen all year and yet I don’t think they got how far it really went.

Speaking of the Road to Wrigley…

I am really enjoying watching the show on Marquee Sports Network. It’s fun, it’s quick paced, and nothing against the guys that I talk to every night online on Twitter about what’s happening in the game, it is just fun to sit back and listen to other people talk and see how different their opinions are than mine. It’s also fun to see who they focus on and it’s clear that they are still very prospect list oriented.

I am hoping the show comes back again in 2023. Just seeing it once a week is fine. Hopefully it is something that is getting enough ratings as the reception online seems to be good.

The Rookie League All-Star Team: Where’s Cristian Hernandez?

When I put out the rookie league All-Star team on Thursday this week, several people messaged me on Twitter and asked where Cristian Hernandez was. They could not find his name on the All-Star team because his name was not on the All-Star team. Hernandez just missed making the cut as he hit .261 on the year with just three home runs and 21 RBI. His OPS on the year was just. .677 in a little over 40 games. While far from being a bust, his performance was just not all-star worthy. Had he hit .280 and had a OPS of .800 or so, then we would be having a very different discussion right now. He didn’t have a bad year, but he didn’t have a good one. He’s just 18, you can cut him some slack.

Tweet of the Week

Our own Greg Huss had a man’s night on Friday with the fiancée out of town.

Phil Reports

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been dishing out some draft pick profiles a couple of times a week. I am now halfway through the Cubs Class from 2022 but only a few of them played baseball this year. Two of them debuted this week in Arizona and Arizona Phil of The Cub Reporter gave us some nuggets on pitchers Nick Hull and Mat Peters. Here are a couple of sentences on each one:

On Hull: Threw 15 pitches (10 strikes), including six FB, eight SL, and one CV. Got one swing & miss with FB and three swing & miss with SL. (Clearly SL is his “go=to” pitch). FB 90-93, SL 82-85, and CV 78. 

On Peters: FB 94-96 the first ten pitches and then went down to 92-94 after that. SL/CT 87-89, CH 84-86. and CV 81-83. 

Peters was removed after just one out as he had trouble finding the plate. Hull, meanwhile I actually got the win in the final game of the year in his one inning or relief. I’m wondering if Hull is going to be a starter and I’m pretty sure Peters will be in relief come next year.

Coming Up Next Week

There is no Rookie League Recap today as the rookie leagues are complete and the All-Star Team is done. Still, “The Breakdown” will be back tomorrow but there will be no Tuesday Transactions this week. Player movement is pretty much done as the MiLB playoffs near. I will have draft pick profiles this week of Mat Peters and Luis Rujano and the August All-Star Team will be out on Thursday.

Jam of the Week

Sierra Hull is a master mandolinist. This week, she and her band just nailed the mood of Tears for Fears “Mad World.”