Pedro Ramirez – Picture by Todd Johnson

It was a pretty busy week in terms of news as there was a new top 100 list and a couple cool news articles. In addition, the Cubs continued to sign some more minor league free agent pitchers. We’ve seen both the South Bend and Myrtle Beach bullpens struggle and the Cubs are sort of filling in those pens with arms that are a little older and more experienced.

Senor Encendido

Pedro Ramirez is currently the hottest hitter in the system. Over the last two weeks, he has been averaging close to .500 and is showing no signs of stopping. He just turned 20 and I’m beginning to wonder if he’s going to be with South Bend at the end of the month when I see them in the Quad Cities. He led the entire system in batting average last month and is only getting better.

Prospect Team of the Week

Only one cub made the team last week over at MLB pipeline and that is James Triantos. My prediction for next week is that we see Mr. Ramirez on the squad.

Poll of the Week

That June 1 deadline is looming large in terms of transactions. I know it’s still 25 days away, but we’re starting to see some guys turn it on in terms of their performance. One of those is Drew Gray of South Bend who just goes out and puts up mostly zeroes. Another 20 year-old, I may not see Gray in the Quad Cities either.

Statcast Standout

Baseball America published an article this week where they had some statistical standouts and Owen Caissie made the list. His exit velocities are just off the charts which leads many to believe that he’s going to develop plus-plus power very soon. I did comment in the April recap that it usually takes him a month to get in gear. In April, he only had one home run. He’s already matched that in May.

BA Top 100

7 Cubs made BA’s latest list. This is an amazing number considering the fact that Michael Busch and Jordan wicks have already graduated from prospect status and Ben Brown is not too far behind. The big news on this list is that Jefferson Rojas is a top 50 prospect and could be a top 40 or 30 by the time their summer rolls around. It’s also cool to see Moises make the list and I’m wondering if Drew Gray or Pedro Ramirez will push it to eight or nine this summer.

20. Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF
22. Cade Horton, RHP
28. Matt Shaw, 3B
40. Owen Caissie, OF
47. Jefferson Rojas, SS
91. Kevin Alcántara, OF
93. Moises Ballesteros, C

Best Sign of the Week

I am a big Will Sanders guy. Ever since the Cubs took him in the draft last year, I’ve been waiting for him to start pitching. His first couple of starts were not good. He looked uncomfortable with the pitch clack and has now righted himself. So whatever he did to make that adjustment, kudos to him because his last two starts have been outstanding. I could see him just dominating the Midwest League the rest of this month.

Pics of the Week

Alfonso Rosario is physical specimen and there’s no doubt he’s going to be fun to watch at Myrtle Beach. It was cool to see Stephanie Lynn there to catch him for his first full week of games in Lynchburg.

Draft Prep

MLB Pipeline dropped their latest mock draft and they have the Cubs taking Florida State third baseman Cam Smith. I kind of like this pick. However, there are two guys that were still on the board that I think could be in the Cubs radar in Cam Caminiti and Dakota Jordan. They were ranked in the late teens. I might prefer one of them to Smith.

Mesa

If you haven’t checked out Rich’s Mesa Preview, please do so. The Arizona Complex “League began a month early this year as they won the opener 2-0. The reason they did that was to allow the regular players to continue playing instead of pushing them aside for recent draft picks. The Mesa Cubs’ season will end July 25, one week after the draft. The college draft picks look they will be headed to Myrtle Beach instead.

Transactions 

The Cubs continued to shore up the bullpens in the lower part of the system. This week they signed Aaron Perry temporarily assigned him to the ACL before he arrived in South Bend last night. He was originally drafted by the Red Sox. I learned about the signing early in the week and sat on it for a few days before it was officially announced. 

The Cubs also signed pitcher Jake Wong and he pitched two innings for Tennessee in his starting role. He did not give up a run. He is originally from the Giants system.

Let’s see who else moved around the system this week.

Iowa – Miles Mastrobuoni went up to Chicago, Matt Mervis came down. Cade Horton arrived as well. David Bote came off the IL.

Tennessee – SS Scottie McKeon retired. Good luck to Scottie. He was always one of the nicest guys! Speaking of nice guys, Joe Nahas is up to Tennessee as well!

South Bend – RHP Aaron Perry assigned to SB on Saturday. His profile will be out this week.

Myrtle Beach – Mason McGwire was activated along with Miguel Pabon. Fabian Pertuz came down from South Bend. Starlyn Pichardo, Drew Bowser, and Eligio Paredes were sent to Mesa along with Carter Trice. Nazier Mule and Michael Carico were sent on rehab outings to Mesa.

Mesa Moves

Well, the Cubs signed several pitchers for their Dominican squad. They still have a month to go before they begin play.

Coming up on North Side Bound

I’ve got some profiles I’ve been wanting to write on a few players. I have four of them stacked up on my to publish list, probably all on Wednesday. I’m also gonna have time to touch up the rosters this week as well. If I have any more time, I may sneak in an affiliate update at the end of the week.

Jam of the Week

Not gonna lie. I just love to watch Samantha Fish play live. She is always fantastic!