Cubs once bumper crop of young players experiances blight

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Just a few seasons ago the Cubs had a torrent of young position players who looked like they could contribute to the big club for years.  That torrent has done a lot of drying up in the last few seasons.  The Cubs experience highlights how difficult it is to identify and develop young talent.  We’ll take a look at some young guys that played for the Cubs in recent seasons and how they panned out.  I pretty much started post-Rizzo as he seemed like an established veteran.

Arismendy Alcantara: Arismendy made a quick splash with the Cubs before sliding into obscurity.  Alcantara played second base and center field and showed speed and flashes of power.  He actually hit 10 home runs for the Cubs in 2014, but it’s been downhill from there.  He’s been with the Athletics and Reds since then.  He signed with the Mets in January of 2019 and now is in AA ball.  In 428 big league at bats, Alcantara hit .189 with an OPS of .550.  His career WAR at this point is – 0.6.

Junior Lake:  Based on his name, I thought Junior should be nicknamed The Pond, but I digress.  Junior admittedly wasn’t as highly thought of as other Cubs prospects but had some bright spots when called up by the club in 2013.  Lake hit .284 with six homers and an OPS of .760 in 236 at bats.  He even had a WAR of 1.1.Sadly, it was downhill after that.  For parts of four seasons in the bigs, Junior sports an OPS of .655 and a WAR of -1.3.  I guess the pitchers caught up with Junior.

Jorge Soler:  Early in Jorge’s career I saw him mashing against the Cardinals and thought the Cubs had something.  And they did, trade bait for Wade Davis.  Jorge looks like a hitter but so far hasn’t hit like a hitter.  Soler is currently with the Kansas City Royals.  Soler is in his sixth season in the majors and his OPS sits at .748.  That’s not terrible, but it’s not close to what it looked like his ceiling would be, plus his glove is awful.  His career WAR is 0.3.

Addison Russell:  Russell is currently serving a suspension for domestic violence after a catastrophic 2018 campaign.  Russell is elite defensively and has shown power and a propensity to drive in runs, but looked completely lost last season.  I have no idea what the Cubs have in him now.  In 2016 he had a defensively driven WAR of 4.1.  Wither he can approach that level of production again remains to be seen.

Kyle Schwarber:  Appearances aside, it turns out that Kyle Schwarber isn’t the second coming of Babe Ruth.  Or even Babe Herman for that matter.  Kyle is off to a slow start again this season and has yet to have a season where his WAR eclipsed 1.5.  Not really Babe like at all, though his career OPS isn’t terrible at .799.  A star hasn’t been bornn’t been born, at least yet.  I think it’s safe to say expectations of Schwarber have been somewhat tempered.

Albert Almora:  Almora can up from the Cubs farm system with a reputation as a strong defender and line drive hitter.  That’s pretty much proven to be the case, but more hitting and more power would be welcome.  His bat has been a little light to carry in center field on a regular basis.  I would like to see him get more playing time to see if he’s a major league regular center fielder or not. Currently his career OPS is at .722.

Kris Bryant:  Bryant looked to be the centerpiece of the franchise for years to come, but injuries and a lack of production recently are raising eyebrows.  Out of all the guys on this list, Bryant warrants the most attention.

Willson Contreras:  Willson created some concern with a terrible second half in 2018, but a hot start has helped quell fears regarding him.  It’s especially good to see him hitting with power again.  His OPS for the 2019 season is 1.179 and his WAR is a healthy 1.4.  Contreras signed with the Cubs in 2009 under the Jim Hendry regime.   

Javy Baez:  Javy Baez is probably the most exciting player in baseball as well as the face of the Cubs franchise.  He like, Willson Contreras signed when Jim Hendry was running the show for the Cubs.  Baez still wrestles with plate disciple, but his obvious talent helps him overcome that tendency.  Currently his WAR sits at 13 for the 2019 season.  It turns out two of the Cubs cornerstones were on board before Theo Epstein’s arrival.  Kind of surprising.