Caleb Kilian – Pic by Dylan Heuer/Iowa Cubs

Oh, baseball is back! It’s only spring training, but it is back!

And through two games, the prospects seem to be doing most of the playing. Brennen Davis, PCA, Alexander Canario, Matt Shaw, Bailey Horn, Caleb Kilian, Matt Mervis, Porter Hodge, and more were out there getting in ABs and innings one of the two days.

Friday Prospect Thoughts

The opener was highlighted by Caleb Killian dealing like 2022 Caleb Kilian. That was a good sign to see as he went two frames with 2 Ks. Bailey Horn was shoving as well with 2 Ks in 1 inning. PCA was a dynamo on the base paths and in the field. Matt Shaw went 2-for-3 and Alexander had a hit and scored a run.

Here are some video highlights by the aforementioned prospects.

Saturday Thoughts

Brennen Davis made his second start in two days. That regularity paid off yesterday with a 2-run single in the second that put the Cubs on the board. He added a solo shot in the top of the fourth. That ball got out in a hurry! What I like most about what I have seen so far is that he looks more athletic and fluid and not so bulky.

Ben Brown got through two scoreless frames. He was sitting around 97 and got some help from Jorge Alfaro and Matt Shaw on a nice caught stealing play. He struck out 2, walked one, and gave up one hit.

Kevin Alcantara and Matt Shaw also got starts with Kevin getting a RBI single. Matt Mervis had a hit and a walk and scored a couple of times. Luke Little was a “little” erratic in his first inning of spring but he worked around a HBP to pitch a scoreless frame. Brett Bateman got in some action and made a great diving catch in center. Jon Long got in some work as did Owen Caissie, Luis Vazquez, Bryce Windham, Pablo Aliendo, and Chase Strumpf (who went yard!). Riley Thompson even worked a scoreless seventh and gave up just a walk. Look for him to be “full-on” in relief mode this year.

Some DSL Moves This Week

The Cubs did have a couple of moves this week down in the DSL. They signed infielder Jesus Meneses yesterday. The 17-year-old is 6-2 and 175 pounds and bats and throws right. He is from Venezuela and trained at the New Era Academy. He was assigned to the DSL Red team. Thanks to Bill Hecht for the heads up on the link!

The Cubs also released a few players this week, all from the DSL. They were pitchers Joandy Duran, David Olivo, and Ezequiel Alvarez, OFs Erbin Jacque and Edward Vargas, and 2B Omar Ferrera.

Other News

There were three articles over at MLB Pipeline dealing with Cub prospects. The first one took a sneak peek at the Spring Breakout game to be held March 14-17 against the White Sox. Of course, PCA dominated most of the article. 

The second article was about who the top power hitting prospect is in the system. Pipeline went with Owen Caissie. That’s a good choice, but I would roll with Alexander Canario. RIght now, Canario is a lot more advanced in the power category and he is built to be that way for a long time. 

MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian broke down how Matt Shaw is doing in his first Spring Training. What stuck out most was this quote from Nico Hoerner:

“In an ideal world, we all play shortstop, center field or catcher, or whatever it is that we want to do the most. A guy like Matt’s hopefully in a position where his bat is ready, whenever that is, and I just hope that him and other guys never have defense as the reason they’re not in the lineup. If you have guys that can hit, you’re going to want them in there. For him, playing second, short, third, maybe some outfield, who knows, that gives him the opportunity to be there and to help us win.”

Picture of the Week

Getting to see Jordan Wicks getting some tutelage from the Professor, Kyle Hendricks, was pretty cool to see.

Draft Prep

This was the second weekend of the D1 Baseball season. After a rough start on opening weekend, Arkansas lefty Hagen Smith dominated the news of this weekend as he struck out 17 in 6 innings against Oregon State, an elite squad. Not too shabby! We will keep an eye on Smith as he was my backup choice at 14 in my 3.5 round mock draft earlier this winter. If he continues to have a good spring, he will be a top 10 pick.

Swoop Is Saying Goodbye

The South Bend Cubs announced this week that Swoop, who was the Silver Hawk’s longtime mascot,  would be hanging it up at the end of the season. The Cubs have his whole story here. Over the years, Swoop has always been the coolest! Good luck to Swoop!

Coming Up

I am officially halfway through my busy season at school. Right now, my Scholastic Bowl team is 4-1 in conference play with 5 more games this next week. The week after sees us going to the regional tournament on the 4th and the conference tournament on the 7th. I am hoping to bring home some trophies.

As for North Side Bound, there will be a couple of mailbag posts this week and the next to the penultimate affiliate sneak peek as I will check out the Smokies’ outfield on Friday. The final sneak peak will be on Iowa’s rotation.

Jam of the Week

Not sure why, but I was cranking up some Supertramp all week. Let’s roll with the ever funky “Bloody Well Right.”