Normally this article features several prospects from across different organizations in baseball. Well today it’s a bit different. With all the trades the Cubs have made in the last year or so, plus all the call-ups they have made, their farm system is light on the well-known talent. So that’s exactly what I’m going to breakdown today. The Cubs top prospects that most haven’t heard of until now.

Their new top-ranked prospect is one, Oscar De La Cruz (RHP CHC A+) who has been in the organization since 2012. He was originally signed as a shortstop out of the Dominican Republic but has since made the transition to the mound. He is still developing, clearly, but he flashes some plus offerings already and should continue to develop more. His 6’4” frame gives De La Cruz the ability to get tilt and plane on his pitches that gets the pitches playing up more than they would. Injuries have slowed his development to this point, but in 47.1 innings this season he owns a 3.42 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 4.25 xFIP and a 7.99 K/9 for High-A Myrtle Beach.  The hope for De La Cruz is he can be a solid number-three man in the rotation in a couple of years with his mid-90s fastball, biting curve, and potential plus-changeup giving him strikeout stuff.

Signed in June of 2015 out of the Mexican League, Jose Albertos (RHP CHC A-) possesses the upside needed to be a frontline starter in a few years. The 18-year-old righty works in the mid- to upper-90s with his heater on both sides of the plate while also controlling his double-plus-graded changeup in the same manner. Albertos, standing 6’1” and 185 pounds, throws his third offering as a curveball that floats between a slider and curve occasionally. Since being signed in June of 2015 he has thrown just 33 total innings, 29 of which have come this year. In five starts at Low-A Eugene, he has a 3.48 ERA, 2.93 FIP, 3.84 xFIP and a very good 9.58 K/9. He has a long road ahead of him still, and it’s a small sample size we are working with, but the stuff is there for him to an ace they will need in three years.

The third-ranked prospect in the north-siders system is 22-year-old righty Adbert Alzolay (RHP CHC AA) out of Venezuela. Alzolay is certainly further along than the previous two guys mentioned, however he too is still two years away. In the last two years of pitching, he has added a few miles an hour, consistently, to his fastball, along with more run making it tough to square up cleanly. The two secondary pitches still need work to be MLB-quality offerings, meaning he is a predominantly fastball pitcher at this point. While that is working, to the tune of a 2.80 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 3.92 xFIP, and 105 Ks in 112.2 innings across two levels, he will need to work more on the curve and changeup before progressing much further.  Alzolay’s .213 BAA is sparkling, though a little less so when seeing a .265 BABIP, and if he can keep it up, he could be a number-two starting option in 2019.

I have talked about Mark Zangunis before in a previous article, this time however the lone hitter to be talked about in their system is D.J. Wilson (OF CHC A). He is a 20-year-old who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2015 draft and passed on a scholarship to Vanderbilt as well as Ohio State and Penn State in football. Many, including me, think he has the best tools in the system including his 65-70-grade speed. In his 71 games in 2017 at South Bend, Wilson has posted a less than pedestrian .229 AVG but does have a .296 BABIP, .334 wOBA, .313 OBP, and part of his struggles have come against southpaws as he’s batting .197 in 66 at bats against them. He is contributing offensively though with eight homers, 49 runs, 39 RBI, and 13 steals this season. Overall Wilson should amount to a .270 hitter with 15 homer pop and the ability to steal 25-30 bags in the bigs, once he gets there in 2019.

Amongst the names signed by the Cubs in 2013’s international signing period is Jen-Ho Tseng (RHP CHC AAA). The now 22-year-old right-hander is exploded back on to the scene this year after having to down years in 2015 and 2016. Across two levels, Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa, he has combined for a 2.69 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 115 Ks and a 12-4 record while taking the hill in 21 starts and 127.1 IP. His FIP and xFIP are both around 3.60 on the year with 8.12 K/9 and 2.30 BB/9. Tseng is a command and control type pitcher who sits between 90-93 with his fastball while pairing a curveball and changeup with it. You could very well see Tseng get the call in a few weeks when rosters expand to give the normal starters a built-in break. However next year is the season he should be up in a bigger role as a piece in the back end of the rotation.

It has been a long road for the Cubs 14th-ranked prospect to get to Triple-A where he is now. Dillon Maples (RHP CHC AAA) was drafted in the 14th-round and signed to a still-record $2.5 million contract. Since that time he has struggled and been banged up routinely, before finally putting everything together in 2017. Originally drafted as a starter by Chicago, they switched him to a reliever in 2015 and specifically a closing candidate over the last two years. Maples features three wipeout pitches with a 94-100 mph fastball, a hard-diving 12-6 curve in the low-80s and an upper-80s slider. He’s sporting a 2.45 ERA and a .198 BAA in 58.2 innings this season with a whopping 95 strikeouts. The issue for him is control. Maples has 32 BBs in that span and hasn’t been below 3.50 BB/9 in his pro career except for a five-inning stint in 2015. If his control issues are controlled, excuse the pun, he could be a dominant setup man or closer for the Cubs in the near future.