Having selected pitchers and a first-baseman and catcher for our second annual Cubs’ minor league All-Star team, today we continue our journey across the diamond. There is as much suspense about who will represent the squad at second-base, shortstop and third-base as whether 1970’s television detective Columbo would nab the bad guy by show’s end.
Clearly Arismendy Alcantara and Javier Baez were heads and shoulders the best 2B and SS, respectively, in the Cubs’ system this season–SS Addison Russell did not debut with the Cubs AA affiliate until July 6 after being acquired in a trade. Meanwhile, the all-world Kris Bryant is the obvious choice for 3B. The only suspense surrounds which players at these positions will merit Honorable mention.
Prior to being promoted to the Cubs on July 8, the switch-hitting Alcantara, 22, batted .307 in 366 plate appearances for AAA Iowa. He scored 62 runs, clubbed 10 homers, 11 triples and 25 doubles, tallied 41 RBI and stole 21 bases in 24 attempts. He made 70 appearances at 2B during his 89-game stint for Iowa. Among the 98 Pacific Coast League players with a minimum of 350 plate appearances, Alcantara ranked 11th in OPS (On-Base-Plus-Slugging Percentage) (.890); 15th in WRC+ (Weighted Runs Created) (126); fifth in WSB (runs created above the league average by a player’s stolen bases) (2.6); and first in sPD (speed and baserunning efficiency) (8.6).
Any WRC+ production that exceeds 100 is above-average.
Moreover, among the sixteen PCL second-baseman with at least 350 plate appearances, Alcantara ranked first in WRC+, BABIP (Batting Average on Ball in Play) and OPS. In other words, he was the standard bearer for his position among his competition.
Honorable mention at 2B belongs to Gioskar Amaya and Chesny Young.
The 21-year-old right-handed hitting Amaya averaged .276 in 435 plate appearances for Daytona while scoring 56 runs and drawing 53 walks. Among all Florida State League second basemen with at least 300 plate appearances, Amaya was first in BB rate (12.2%), 4th in OPS (.747); third in WRC+ (121) and first in BABIP (.354). He also produced a full-season, personal-high fielding percentage of .972.
Young, 21 and a 14th round pick in the 2014 draft, split the season between the short-season Boise Hawks of the Northwest League and Kane County of the Midwest League after a brief stint with the Cubs’ rookie team. In 59 plate appearances for Boise, he batted .354 with a .882 OPS, 158 WRC+, .428 BABIP and .985 fielding percentage. In 114 plate appearances for Kane County, the right-handed hitting Young batted .324 with a .767 OPS, 118 WRC+, .400 BABIP and .987 fielding percentage.
Javier Baez is the obvious choice to fill the shortstop position on our All-Star squad. Prior to debuting with the Cubs on August 5, Baez played 104 games (85 at SS) for Iowa, accumulating 434 plate appearances, during which he batted .260 with an .833 OPS. His 24 doubles, 23 homers and 80 RBI placed him in the top five in all three categories at the time of his promotion.
Certainly Baez has struggled since joining the Cubs, entering play Friday averaging just .171 in 157 plate appearances with a .585 OPS, 65 strikeouts, a SO rate of 41.4% and a WRC+ of just 60. But Cubs’ fans should not dismiss Baez, 21, based on his major league performance this season, as he has repeatedly (see below) struggled when initially promoted to a new level, only to make adjustments and then dominate that same level.
Baez, a first round selection in the 2011 draft, split his first full season of 2012 between Peoria, the Cubs’ former Low A affiliate, and Daytona. In 235 plate appearances for Peoria, Baez hit .333 with a .979 OPS and 170 WRC+. In a 23-game stint after being promoted to Daytona, his batting average tumbled to .188 with a .644 OPS and well-below-average WRC+ of 76.
But Baez’s struggles at Daytona proved ephemeral. In 76 games and 337 plate appearances for Daytona in 2013, the right-handed slugger with the laser-quick hitting wrists batted .274 with a .873 OPS and 145 WRC+. Baez was then promoted to AA Tennessee, where in his first 13 games covering 55 plate appearances, he averaged just .212 with a .735 OPS and 111 WRC+.
Yet in his next 57 games for the Smokies, including the playoffs, Baez batted .291 with a .979 OPS and a blistering 180 WRC+ in 255 plate appearances.
Baez spent all of this season with Iowa before being promoted to the Cubs. In his first 28 games and 118 plate appearances for Iowa, Baez batted a woeful .142 with an equally meager OPS and WRC+ of .484 and 21, respectively. However, in his next 76 games and 316 plate appearances, prompting his promotion, Baez averaged .305 with a .964 OPS and 140 WRC+
If this trend continues, it would be surprising if he did not finish this season, or open the next one, strongly for the Cubs.
Addison Russell and Gleyber Torres merit Honorable mention as shortstops. The right-handed hitting Russell, a first round selection of the Oakland Athletics in the 2012 draft, batted .295 in 50 games and 204 plate appearances for AA Tennessee after joining the Cubs’ organization as the prize acquisition in the Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel trade. He belted twelve homers and produced an .868 OPS and 143 WRC+.
The right-handed batting Torres, ranked by MLB.com as the third best international prospect in the 2013 pool, split his season between the Cubs’ rookie squad and short-season Boise. At just 17, Torres combined to hit .291 in 52 games (including the playoffs) and 223 plate appearances with 33 RBI, an OPS of .810 and a WRC+ of 132.
Kris Bryant is to 3B on our All-Star squad what Michael Jordan is to the off-guard position on a team of NBA greats: a no brainer. Since joining the Cubs’ organization as the second overall selection in the 2013 draft, the right-handed hitting slugger has garnered Arizona Fall League MVP honors (2013) and the USA Today Minor League Player of the Year award this season.
Splitting 2014 between AA Tennessee and AAA Iowa, Bryant batted .325 in 138 games and 594 plate appearances. He belted a minor-league best 43 homers, drove in 110 runs, clubbed 34 doubles, swiped 15 bases in 19 attempts and produced an out-of-sight WRC+ of 192, an OPS of 1.098, a BABIP of .405 and a walk rate of 14.5%.
But for the fact that Bryant is not on the Cubs’ 40-man roster and also not eligible for the Rule Five Draft this winter; and that the Cubs likely do not want to start the clock ticking on his free agency eligibility, he would be in Wrigley Field debuting with the Cubs just like Baez, Alcantara, Jorge Soler and other members of the Cubs’ likely future core.
As great as Bryant played this year, no other third baseman distinguished himself in the Cubs’ system to deserve Honorable mention.
Check back early next week for our final installment of this year’s minor-league All-Star team when we name three outfielders to the squad and mention a couple of others who deserve Honorable mention.
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