Feature photo of PCA by Rich Biesterfeld
We’ve spent the entire offseason listening to complaints that while the Chicago Cubs have plenty of prospect depth, they just lack that truly elite prospect that ticks the system’s notoriety up a level or two.
The team of Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin is hearing none of that, and did the deed we’ve all been waiting on — they ranked Pete Crow-Armstrong among the sport’s premiere talent, slotting him in at #14 on their recently released Top 100 Prospects ranking.
That placement sandwiches him between the likes of Jordan Walker and Francisco Álvarez above him and Jordan Lawlar just below him. That, my friends, is a franchise player and one that fans should be able to count on as a fixture in the lineup for years to come.
But the FG team wasn’t done with Cubs prospects there! They included a trio of other players, two of which haven’t been commonplace on Top 100s up to this point in the offseason.
Kevin Alcántara slots in at 73, which feels like a perfect set-up for his fast rise to the Top 20 this season. El Jaguar receives a 70-grade future raw power tool, which is among the best in all of minor league baseball and accurate given his unicorn-like combination of size and athleticism.
Further down the list is a fun ranking of MLBer Hayden Wesneski at #88. Fangraphs specially points to his three different fastballs as something that could ultimately turn into a positive for him, and that will likely be key in his ceiling at the Major League level. I mean, we know exactly how good his slider is and a present 60-grade on that thing is confirmed by the eye test.
The final Cub to crack the list is someone that Fangraphs has been high on for some time now, with Cristian Hernández sneaking in at #100. The tool grades match up well with concerns for the athletic shortstop after his first season stateside. FG tags him with a rough 35 future contact tool but a whole bunch of above-average 55 future tools besides that, including an impressive 70-grade raw power to match Alcántara.
Absent from the list is Brennen Davis, another guy that we know for a fact has a Top 100 skill set. While the depth is starting to show itself at the back-end of these lists and beyond, the big takeaway here is PCA and his rise to prominence.
Check out the full ranking and each individual player’s write-up over at Fangraphs!
