So, when the team you love has failed to win a World Series in 104 years, and hasn't even reached one in 67 years, you begin to see things differently. Luckily, this season gave Cubs fans no reason to have any disillusions that we could contend for anything. It was readily apparent from the beginning that this season would be a throw away as we moved forward with Theo's plan to make the team and franchise relevant again. In order to do this, the familiar Cubs of the last decade have been purged (outside of Alfonso Soriano, but that's a different story), making way for the players of the future.
As we begin this migration, we have seen plenty of new players who have a chance to play a role in the resurgence of the franchise. I am mainly going to focus on position players and one starting pitcher.
At first base, we have the player that Theo and his brain trust have been nuts about for years, Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo has the potential to be the Cubs Joey Votto. I'm not saying he will be that good, but I do think he can play that role for our franchise. His first year with the Cubs is looking very promising. Although his first stint in the majors looked a little iffy, he appears to have figured it out a bit more this year. He is hitting .282 with 9 HRs in 52 games.The last few weeks have definitely seen his performance dip, but everyone goes through rough patches, especially rookies.
At third, we have Josh Vitters. He has been projected as the third baseman of the future, but he has looked pretty terrible in his short run. Batting .102 with 16 SOs and only 1 BB in 15 games does not portend well for the long term. He's 23, but this is his first run in the majors. We shall see if he can start to figure it out, but I worry about his confidence going through this.
In the outfield, we have Brett Jackson. I do not see him doing much in the majors. It frightens me that he is supposed to be our CF of the future. He shares a Drew Stubbs-like SO rate through his career. It has only continued in the majors. In 18 games, he has struck out 31 times. In 61 ABs. Thats 31 in in 61. That is more than half of his ABs ending in SOs. I'll end with that on Jackson. Just....no.
As for our pitching, Jeff Samardzija has shown promise. I don't know that he projects as an ace, but as a number 2 or 3 in a rotation, he has lots of promise. He has steadily improved his pitches through his career, and has shown himself to be a capable starter.
If we can keep this season from destroying the confidence of our young players, we have a real chance of contending. In about 2 or 3 years. We need to keep building our farm system and bringing in fresh blood to revitalize the organization. That's the joy of baseball. We will see in the next few years if Theo's vision will come to fruition, or if we have to completely start again.
Very good article, Mr. Dant. I like the comparisons to Reds players too. I haven't watched Rizzo nearly as much I do Reds players, but I do feel he will be the cornerstone of their offensive future. If you want to continue with the Reds comparisons, he will be a combination of Votto and Bruce. He will hit for more homers than than Votto, but also a better average than Jay has thus far. I'm gonna project batting averages throughout his career of .290-.320. He will hit anywhere between 30-40+ HRs every year and bring in as many RBIs as there are runners on base for him to bring home. Vitters and Jackson both have big league talent with those big "if" factors. Strikeouts are awful. I hate them. Thus, why I love Ryan Hanigan and any manager who believes that OBP is a crucial offensive category. I do not trusty in Dusty. And I know you didn't either. I think there are still big moves to be made by Theo and company. I don't think they are just simply relying on the farm to bring them back into contention. Theo wants to bring success to Chicago quickly. And as soon as the money is fully available, he will use it. The question is how well he uses that money. Samardzija is a top-notch number 3, and a low-end number 2 at this point. But he is certainly capable of being a top-notch number 2. Like Bono.
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