Brennen Davis – Picture by Scott Changnon/Marquee

There are several Cubs prospects who have had I guess what you might call “not a good first half.” In fact, you might say some of them have had terrible first halves. It happens. It really does. But the question of the day is: “Can they bounce back in the second half?“

The obvious answer is yes.

But for most of them, adjustments are going to have to be made. And for some of them, this could be the end of the road as a Cubs prospect. Pedro Ramirez, for one, has been tearing the cover off the ball the last two weeks at Myrtle Beach and he is showing no signs of slowing down since coming back from EXST.

Let’s take a look at a few other bounce back candidates for the second half.

Alexander Canario – He missed the first half due to an injury suffered in winter league last fall. He’s been taking BP and word is he’s hitting dingers. I still believe in his talent as he has immense raw skills. He would be my favorite bounce back candidate.

Brennen Davis – He’s an incredible athlete with some loud tools. GM Carter Hawkins said that he wasn’t going to take into account. Davis’ is’ statistical performance in the first half returning from back surgery. This could take a while, but I’m hoping we start to see stretches of him putting it together. Maybe he does well for a week or 10 days and he builds on that. Unfortunately, Davis went on the 7-Day IL last night after struggling to run on Tuesday night.

Yohendrick Pinango – His slump actually started last year as the Cubs tinkered with him to try and get more power out of him and turn him from a contact hitter into someone who could hit for power. When he first arrived in South Bend in September 2021, the coaches tried to get him to not do so much in the moment and just let the game come to him and react to the pitches rather than the situation. He’s got to get back to that because he’s not even hitting above .200 at this time. Once he starts going the other way on a regular basis, I think we’ll have something again. But has his sell out for power taking the hit ability away?

Parker Chavers – He’s had some great games, it’s just his ability to stay healthy and get on the field every day that has held him back. Last August, as he was an all-star for the month and I felt good about him heading into the spring, but it just hasn’t worked out. I am still hopeful that he can stay healthy and produce. We are seeing some signs of life. Last week, he .455 with a .500 OBP. It’s a start.

Riley Thompson. – He was outstanding in 2022, especially in the second half. But it’s like the Cubs broke him putting him in the bullpen and then putting him back as starter and then flip-flopping him again. The Cubs need to pick a lane for him and just let him stay in that lane. Hopefully he can then regain his prior form.

Michael McAvene has been on the shelf for quite a while. He has not pitched in a game that mattered since May 7. At the time, McAvene had a 10.24 ERA in just 9 games. Opponents were hitting well over .300 against him and it was not good. It was clear McAvene wasn’t fooling anyone. Nut McAvene had the live arm needed to come back. If the Cubs can get him right and get him back to Tennessee, I don’t see a reason why he could not be one of the better relievers in the system. To do that, he needs stuff that he get by hitters in Double-A.

Cam Sanders – After a great camp in spring training, I thought he was on the cusp of heading to Chicago at any moment. It hasn’t happened. And the longer he waits, that has to get in his head at some point. He’s really struggled the last month with control. Everybody and their mother knows the stuff is there, it’s up to him to put it together in his head and on the mound. My fear is that this doesn’t work out and he goes someplace else this winter and they fix him and he turns into a  lights out reliever.

Scott Kobos – He’s missed all of the first half but he’s been pitching well out in Arizona. He should be coming back to a full season affiliate near you and the next week.

Ed Howard – He’s back! He went 3-for-5 in his first night back. Let’s give him some time!

There are probably several other guys we could include here whose performance has not been up to par or expectations. 

But remember this…two years ago, everybody was down on Miguel Amaya and wondered if he could come back. And now look at him. I don’t think he’s ever going back to the minor leagues again.

You never know.