There were some significant changes this week in the Cubs minor leagues when it comes to statistical leaders in the system. Hayden McGeary took over as the RBI leader from Owen Caissie. Today is a good day to break down the season long leaders in about 10 statistical categories in the system. This week will be all about hitters while next week will focus solely on pitching statistics in the breakdown.

There were some significant changes this week in the Cubs system when it comes to statistical leaders in the system. Hayden McGeary took over, took over as the RBI leader from Owen Caissie. Today’s a good day to break down the season long leaders in about 10 statistical categories in the system. This week will be all about hitters while next week will focus solely on pitching statistics in the breakdown. All hitting stats are as of 8.27 at 9 AM.

Batting Average

Ezequiel Pagan leads the full season affiliates with a .311 average. Reivaj Garcia is the only other full season guy above .300 at .303 and then Haydn McGeary is third at .287. However, Alexis Hernandez hit .315 in Mesa in rookie league ball. 

Home Runs

Felix Stevens is pulling away with 25. He has two weeks left, while Jake Slaughter has a month and he has 21. Owen Caissie has been on 21 for a while but has been on the bench due to a minor injury.

RBI

This is McGeary’s category now. I still find his production to be amazing. McGeary has 83 and then Owen Caissie is next with 78 and Jake Slaughter is third with 74 while PCA has an amazing 72 from the leadoff spot.

wRC+

Felix Stevens is at 150. What is more amazing than the stat is that he’s done it at two levels this year. He’s put himself in the discussion to begin 2024 at Tennessee. Seeing McGeary at 142, Caissie at 138, and Ballesteros at 137, not shocking at all.

On-base Percentage

This, again, is McGeary’s at .411 right now, but Mervis is right behind at .409 and then there’s a drop off to BJ Murray at .391. Andres Bonolis in the DSL put up a .416 while Alexis Hernandez led the ACL squad at .407.

Slugging Percentage

Stevens and Mervis are neck-and-neck at .546 and .545 while Yonathan Perlaza is lurking at .538 and  Owen Caissue is .528. PCA’s big power year produced a .517 slugging percentage.

OPS

Matt Mervis is running away with this at .954.  Yonathan Perlaza is next closest at .922. Owen Caissie and Felix Stevens are also above .900.

Highest Walk Percentage

When I decided to put this category in, I knew Mervis would be leading this and BJ Murray had to be close. Mervis was in first at 16.1% and BJ was second at 15.7 with Haydn McGeary next at 15.6.

Lowest Strikeout Percentage

I was surprised that Ezequiel Pagan was the leader in the category at just 14%. The guy who I thought would be leading it actually came in second and that is Moises Ballesteros. The huge surprise was Yohendrick Pinango who was third at 16.9%. Pinango’s really improved his approach at the plate this year which includes this stat and a much higher walk percentage.

BASH

And what would a North Side Bound stat discussion be without Greg Huss’ stat BASH which takes into account age and ballpark. Right now, two draft picks in Jonathan Long and Brian Kalmer lead in BASH at 167 and 143. Two other young players in Jefferson Rojas and Moises come in third and fourth at 138 and 137.

Cards of the Week

The Playoff Hunt

Iowa could not have picked the worst week to hit the skids. They have now fallen out of first place in the second half, three games back of Saint Paul. There is still a month to play, including some head to head action. Tennessee still has a slight edge over Chattanooga for first place in the second half. Since Chattanooga won the first half, the Smokies just have to finish second and their magic number is down to four because they have an 9 game lead over Rocket City for that second playoff spot. South Bend is eight back of Peoria in the Midwest League and their number to be eliminated is five. Myrtle Beach is already in. With two weeks to go, they are four back of Charleston and it does not look like they are going to catch them to win both halves of the season. Still, the Pelicans will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Players of the Week

Hitter of the Week – Yeah, Alexander Canario flat out raked for the Week. Matt Shaw of South Bend (for now) and Pedro Ramirez also had studly weeks. All 3 prospects could get players of the week nods for their respective leagues later today.

Starting Pitcher of the Week – Jordan Wicks is going to get this nod just because I can, even though it was a MLB start. Still, 5 IP, 1 run, and 9 Ks was the best one could have hoped but not seen coming. Good for him. Still, Cade Horton, Walker Powell, and Sahbe Greene all had great starts this week,

Reliever of the Week – Frankie Scalzo had 8 Ks in 3.2 frames on the week. That’ll do!