Welcome to Prospect frenzy part 2!

On Saturday the 18th, the Cubs signed two left-handed pitching minor-league free agents and acquired a third lefty via a trade. Then yesterday, they signed one more. Over the next eight hours, you were going to get four prospect profiles about where these guys came from, what they’ve done, and what they could possibly do.

Let’s begin with Alex Troop!

Basic Info

Height 6-foot-5
Weight – 210 pounds
Throws – Left
Age – 27
From Michigan State
Drafted by the Nationals in the ninth round in 2017
Signed by the Cubs as a minor free agent

For Alex Troop, his signing by the Cubs was a bit of a surprise. 

For Alex Troop, his signing by the Cubs was not a surprise.

The Cubs are currently in a bit of a need for pitchers due to injuries and they seem to be running low on lefties in general despite the injuries.

Troop’s career began at Michigan State in 2015. Like most freshmen, his role included starting and relieving. He made 7 starts in 13 of his 13 appearances with a 5.27 ERA. He struck out 36 in 42.2 innings. As a sophomore, injuries limited him to just 11 innings in 3 games but he was successful with a 1.64 ERA in that short stint. 

For his junior year, everything came together.

Troop made 14 starts with 2.47 ERA. He struck out 83 in 83.2 innings while walking 29. That was enough to get him drafted by the Nats.

After being drafted, Troop got in 38.2 innings across Rookie League, Low-A, and High-A. That is not surprising since he did pitch in the Big Ten. His combined 2.79 ERA was impressive, but the strikeout total dropped from 9 per 9 innings to about 6 but his K/BB ratio went from 2:1 to 4:1.

In 2018, the injury bug hit again as he only got in 4 games. He would return in a limited role in 2019. After not allowing a run in 3 starting appearances at low-A, he got the bump to High-A and was very good in 11 games at  Hagerstown with a 2.18 ERA, all in relief. He struck out 34 in 33 innings. 

Then in 2020, he did not play due to COVID-19.

When he returned to action in 2021, he spent the year struggling at High-A Wilmington most of the year before getting promoted to Double-A Harrisburg. In total, he pitched in 29 games, 17 of them he started. His combined ERA was 3.35 ERA with 100 Ks in 83.1 innings.

At this point, things were looking good but sometimes the next season did not go as well as planned. Double-A in 2022 was tough for Troop as he put up an ERA of almost 5. No one said Double-A was going to be easy and it was not. He returned to Double-A again in 2023 and his ERA came out at 4.38 and he whiffed 95 in 100.2 innings in 24 games, 18 of them of a starter.

At this point, his affiliated ball career ended, despite the excellent start in the video. 

Troop reappeared at Kane County in Geneva this spring, right next door to his hometown of Batavia. He appeared in 2 games for the Cougars, throwing 10 innings while he struck out 16. He allowed just 2 runs for an ERA of 1.80.

In watching video, Troop likes to attack the zone. It looks like he has a nice curve in addition to a low 90s fastball. More than likely, he will find his way to Tennessee and it will be interesting to see if he is a reliever or a starter. Considering the need for starting pitching at Tennessee, I could see him starting going forward. In addition, i would not be surprised to see the Cubs do some tweaking on the pitches he throws.