Chicago Cubs Top 20 Pre-Season Prospects in Review

by John Sickels on Nov 19, 2025 2:39 PM EST in News

Chicago Cubs PRE-SEASON Top 20 Prospects in Review

1) Brian Dopirak, 1B
Ugh. Hit .235/.289/.381. He did hit 16 homers in the difficult Florida State League, but all of his other numbers were way off compared to '04. Plate discipline is an issue. At age 21, he still has time to rebound, but obviously his stock has to drop. I would be very interested in any observations from people who have seen Dopirak play this year.

2) Felix Pie, OF
Limited to 59 games for Double-A West Tennessee by a leg injury, but hit .304/.349/.554 when he played, showing very good power development. Tool-laden player with developing skills, but the Cubs should be patient with him and avoid rushing him too quickly, ala Corey Patterson.

3) Billy Petrick, RHP
Went 1-4, 5.59 in nine starts for Class A Daytona, 25/19 K/BB in 37 innings. Went down with shoulder injury, had to have surgery. Status in doubt at this time.

4) Angel Guzman, RHP
Another season spent trying to stay healthy, appeared in just two games for Peoria. Status unchanged. He has a great arm but if he can't stay on the mound it doesn't matter much.

5) Reynel Pinto, LHP
Clobbered in Triple-A, 9.53 ERA in six starts. Demoted to Double-A and recovered, going 10-3, 2.78 in 21 starts, but he was repeating that level so good performance there doesn't tell us much.. Not sure what to make of him at this point.

6) Jason Dubois, OF
Hit .239/.289/.472 in 52 games for the Cubs, then traded to Cleveland. Has good power but plate discipline is a major issue.

7) Bobby Brownlie, RHP
6-7, 4.74 in 27 games, 14 starts for Triple-A Iowa. Pitched better after converting to relief, so perhaps he has found a niche. Still not as good of a pitcher as the Cubs thought they were getting when they expended a first-round pick on him.

8) Carlos Marmol, RHP
Split season between Daytona and West Tennessee, going a combined 9-6, 3.34 in 154 innings, with a 141/77 K/BB. His command needs to improve, but he's a solid overall prospect.

9) Ryan Harvey, OF
Hit .257/.302/.484 in 117 games for Peoria. Hit 24 homers and 30 doubles, but posted a 24/137 BB/K ratio in 467 at-bats. Has to improve his strike zone judgment to produce at higher levels.

10) Sean Marshall, LHP
Strike-throwing lefty pitched well for Daytona and West Tennessee, going 4-5 but with a 2.68 ERA and 85/31 K/BB in 94 innings. Main question is durability.

11) Matt Murton, OF
Hit .343/.405/.499 between West Tennessee and Iowa, then hit .321/.386/.521 in 51 games for the Cubs. May not duplicate those numbers in a full season, but I expect he will be a productive player for a long time.

12) Ricky Nolasco, RHP
Went 14-3, 2.89 in 27 starts for West Tennessee, 173/46 K/BB in 162 innings. Solid across the board, main problem was that he was repeating the league, but I do like him.

13) Mark Reed, C
Hit .135 in 14 games to start the year at Peoria. Sent to short-season ball, he hit .250/.310/.370. I thought he would do a lot better than that, based on high school performance and scouting reports. Still young at 19.

14) Grant Johnson, RHP
3-8, 3.82 in 14 starts for Peoria, 52/26 K/BB in 73 innings. Live arm, but needs better command. Not especially polished for a college product.

15) Matt Craig, 1B
Hit .275/.340/.459 in 99 games for West Tennessee, repeating the league at age 24 and posting weaker numbers compared to 2004. Hard to see how he fits into Chicago's plans.

16) Brandon Sing, 1B
Hit .276/.404/.538 in 127 games for West Tennessee, 26 homers, 91 walks, 110 strikeouts in 409 at-bats. Power and patience are impressive. An older prospect at 24, but might sneak up on people if he can find the playing time.

17) Bear Bay, RHP
Traded to Cleveland. Went 9-8, 3.86 in 23 starts between Class A Kinston and Double-A Akron, 125/28 K/BB in 131 innings. Effective control pitcher, with a good strikeout rate for a guy who doesn't burn radar guns.

18) Jermaine Van Buren, RHP
1.98 ERA, 25 saves, 65/22 K/BB in 55 innings for Iowa. Control is still a problem at times, but he has enough stuff to help out in the bullpen and close in an emergency.

19) Jon Connolly, LHP
Limited to 26 innings for West Tennessee (4.44 ERA) by shoulder trouble. Status will depend on health.

20) Richard Lewis, 2B
Hit .217/.277/.300 for Iowa. Has had one good year in a five-year career.

This is another team that will have a very different list in 2006. Sean Gallagher and Rich Hill plus some '05 draftees will knock some of these failures off the list. The Cubs farm system looked great a few years ago, but they have lost momentum.

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Comments

Cub fan's POV

You are right in that the system has lost a lot of momentum. I think this is the result of gross blunders in the front office of GM Jim Hendry.

They gave away Andy Sisco (whom they spent $1,000,000 to sign and 4 years of resources to train) because he had a losing record in high A. That was Jim Hendry's justification for not protecting him in the Rule V. Now, they didn't protect Brandon Sing (who had a .400 OBP at AA). An AL team will pick Sing up for sure.

All this to protect dead weights such as Neifi Perez, Jose Macias, and oh my God why do I follow this team........... We can make a list of great players that have come to the Baker - Hendry regime: Lenny Harris, Troy O'leary, Tom Goodwin, Jose Macias, Neifi Perez, Jose Hernandez, Todd Hollandsworth

The Cubs, more than any team, need a sabermetric GM to efficiently rehaul this organization. They are losing prospects for nothing, forfeiting top draft picks to sign relievers, signing low OBP/low SLG players for the bench, abusing their starting pitchers to the point where they are no longer effective anymore, and not giving playing time to better players because they are young and therefore lack "experience".

With their financial and fanbase resources, this team should be a juggernaut with a GM who understands statistics (and traditional scouting as well). They have dozens of pitchers who throw in the mid to low 90s but only a handful of position players who have OBP over .350.

by ralphwiggum774 on Nov 19, 2025 4:14 PM EST reply actions

ditto

Who are you, and what are you doing inside my head?

by Cabbage on Nov 19, 2025 9:16 PM EST up reply actions

They Protected David Kelton

Last year as well...

by broham on Nov 20, 2025 10:41 AM EST up reply actions

I'd like to see where Hendry said that...

...he didn't protect Sisco because he had a losing record in A ball. Failing to protect Sisco for the sake of John Koronka was a major blunder, but I don't think that was the reason.

Regarding Sing, I think the Cubs regard him as a AAAA player with limited defensive skills, and they may well be right about that. We'll see if someone picks him up and keeps him -- even in the AL it isn't that easy to hold onto a struggling Rule 5 1B/DH.

Anyway, overall this is a disaster. It's ironic that Hendry's good work as Assistant GM led him to be made GM, where he is now undoing all of the good work Hendry the Assistant GM did over the years.

by dvdmgsr on Nov 21, 2025 2:59 PM EST up reply actions

reasons for exposing Sisco

I'm not saying Koronka was a useful protect... but at the time I remember reading that Sisco wasn't accepting coaching very well and also had ballooned up close to 270/300 lbs. Being unprotected was a smack in the face and the Royals giving him an opportunity renewed his commitment. Those two things combined were enough for him to motivate him to get his act together. This does the Cubs no good tho of course. I'm still not convinced Sisco is that good though. He needs to repeat his success. There are alot of no name pitchers that can handle pen work. Consistency (day-to-day and year-to-year) is what separates the good from the OK.

"If you don't like Torey Lovullo, then you don't like baseball." Sparky Anderson

by natsfan2005 on Nov 22, 2025 12:14 PM EST up reply actions

Rich Hill

Rich or Rick, I'm not sure, but he wasn't on the list with his huge curveball?

when your ERA has letters and not numbers, it's a bad thing- kevin goldstein

by WakeboardJock on Nov 19, 2025 4:15 PM EST reply actions

old

He pitched in the Florida State League at age 24 in 2004. Too old to be a top prospect, although you can certainly make a case that he should have slotted in somewhere in the 15-20 range.

by John Sickels on Nov 19, 2025 4:53 PM EST up reply actions

Rich Hill

Rich Hill will have a good career in the major leagues. His arm has already passed the early 20s period where most pitcher's arms fall off. He wasn't abused in college and didn't start throwing a lot of innings until last year so that is always a good sign.

His curveball is downright nasty. It probably is the best lefty curve in the NL or at least in the top three. He made Carlos Delgado look foolish and he buckled the knees of David Wright twice in a row when he was sitting curveball.

In my opinion, his command will come and go for a few years before the light clicks on and he should have a decent career.

by ralphwiggum774 on Nov 19, 2025 5:30 PM EST reply actions

The curveball is one thing...

...but it's hard to succeed as a one-trick pony. Hill's curve is great, but if he isn't doing a really good job of spotting his fastball, he's not successful. I was impressed at how good a job he did last year of that, but he will need to do it consistently to be successful.

by dvdmgsr on Nov 21, 2025 3:02 PM EST up reply actions

Hill

The only thing he has to worry about is developing his secondary pitches a little more. I see him in the pen for all of 2006 and then taking on a Glendon Rusch type role being used as a 5th/6th starter occasionally and in long relief. I think he'll have a lot of success for a long time. That curve is comparable to Zito's.

"Second guessers are guys that could have never gotten it right the first time." - Tommy Lasorda (for guys that have no other defense for their actions.)

by slurve on Nov 19, 2025 6:15 PM EST reply actions

sean marshall

He didn't pitch at all towards the end of the season. I assumed he got hurt, but never heard how. Anyone know what he went down with?

by jeck on Nov 19, 2025 6:32 PM EST reply actions

Marhsall

They shut him down because he had shoulder and bicep tightness. I thought I heard he was on a rehab program though I have no idea how he is now.

by Ienpw on Nov 19, 2025 10:32 PM EST up reply actions

2nd Year out of Two

That Marshall gets shut down for the season. I believe the problem was blisters the first year.

by broham on Nov 20, 2025 10:37 AM EST up reply actions

Marshall

It was a ruptured tendon in his finger last year, not blisters (the problems appeared again in the AFL last year).

Great post, ralphwiggum.

by Raisin on Nov 21, 2025 1:15 AM EST up reply actions

Wow...

Ralph your first post puts everything I feel about the Cubs under Hendry into words.

By any chance, are you the guy under the same name from the Cubs board on scout.com? I think I remember you being a level head there too.

by SenorGato88 on Nov 20, 2025 12:52 AM EST reply actions

hey

yeah, leftyace88, that is me. good to see you on this site.

by ralphwiggum774 on Nov 20, 2025 10:16 PM EST up reply actions

Pinto, Nolasco

Both seem to dominate Double A but can't survive Iowa. Anyone know what it is that makes Triple A hitters so much better against them?

by broham on Nov 20, 2025 10:40 AM EST reply actions

Pinto

Pinto's control went to hell at AAA.

by Sulla on Nov 20, 2025 1:07 PM EST up reply actions

this team needs obp

lots of talent on mlb roster but very disjointed team.
someone needs to explain to 'em that 1 walk + 1 hr = 1hr + 1hr.

got any obp guys coming up...

by dryice on Nov 21, 2025 5:50 AM EST reply actions

yeah sing......sarcastic of course

not that i have seen...If you look above at the list the only position player making strides is Pie, who I believe is a year away and harvey who maybe two years away and not a big OBP guy. The organization as a whole doesn't seem to have a lot in the pipeline in terms of position players with a few exceptions; moore, pie, patterson?, harvey, dopirak?, mcghee?. Not sure if i missed any so fill in as necessary. The arms seem to be coming along ok but hard to tell with injuries and stunted growth opportunities at the ml level. It will be very interesting to see how Nolasco, Pinto, Marmol and Ryu perform at AAA if the Cubs send them all there.

by cincod1 on Nov 21, 2025 1:54 PM EST up reply actions