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#Post#: 529362--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: CUBluejays
Date: July 12, 2026, 7:22 pm
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Jacob Misiorowski
BB%
2023: 13.4%
2024. 14.4%
2025: 12.3% (AAA) 11.4% (MLB)
2026: 6.4%
Is it going to stick, maybe not. Maples was under 10% in 2015
and 16 and then went back to walking everyone. Maybe Tread think
they can improve control, but they need to lean into whatever
they are good at developing and find guys that need that skill.
#Post#: 529363--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: Reb
Date: July 12, 2026, 7:39 pm
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--- Quote from: CUBluejays link ---
>
> The Cubs are always chasing what other teams do……
>
--- End Quote ---
Most everybody does that, not just in baseball.
See what is working out there and try to emulate. Yes, there are
a very small number of cutting edge folks and concerns… and then
the parade starts.
Theo’s strength was not really as an innovator but as someone
who could see what was happening and then marshal the resources,
people and otherwise, to run efficiently—a process guy. You can
win that way if you’re good at it. It might be the best way to
win.
#Post#: 529364--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: davep
Date: July 12, 2026, 7:44 pm
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--- Quote from: craig link ---
>
> We've had dreams of developing pitchers before. Boston and
Theo, maybe they know how to scout and develop and optimize?
Pitch lab, we've now got this pitch lab. Breslow, he went to
Yale. Now we've got Zombro and the Tread approach. I think
Zombro and tread is probably better than any of them. But I'm
still hesitant about how much you can fix wild. Watching
Maples, Burl, a Cabrera, or Snider, or Hollowell, etc., it seems
wild is hard to fix. But hopefully some of the interesting
stuff guys in draft, hopefully at least some of them will get
the wildness under enough control to be useful. Could be fun if
so!
>
--- End Quote ---
Craig - I agree that it is extremely difficult to "fix" wild.
But the rewards of fixing 1 out of 20 "wild-with-stuff" may be
greater than fixing 1 out of 5 "stuffless with control".
Obviously, there is a great spectrum of both control and stuff,
and we are just talking about the extremes of each.
#Post#: 529367--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: jacey1
Date: July 12, 2026, 9:02 pm
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--- Quote from: craig link ---
>
> That's a good point, Dave. I'm probably forgetting somebody,
but over a long period of time, I think Dopirak was the only
pure 1b-only bat that they picked in the top handful of rounds.
Now with Matthis in 2024, and now Bailey yesterday, that's two
2nd-round 1B's within three years. Guessing having the DH is
something of a factor there.
>
--- End Quote ---
Ryan Harvey
#Post#: 529368--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: Reb
Date: July 12, 2026, 10:23 pm
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--- Quote from: jacey1 link ---
>
> Ryan Harvey
>
--- End Quote ---
2004 Baseball America scouting report on Harvey:
Seven months after blowing out his right knee in an outfield
collision at a high school showcase, Harvey was a candidate to
go No. 1 overall in the 2003 draft. The Cubs ranked him third on
their draft board and were elated to get him with the sixth
pick. Though he signed quickly for $2.4 million, the team had
him focus on rehabbing his knee until the final two weeks of the
season. Scouts compare Harvey to Dale Murphy. Harvey has huge
power, as well as the strongest outfield arm and the best
power/speed combination in the system. He threw 90-93 mph off
the mound before giving up pitching in the wake of his injury.
Harvey hasn't quite regained his 6.7-second speed in the 60-yard
dash. His rust also showed at the plate in the Rookie-level
Arizona League. His swing can get long at times and he'll have
to keep it shorter with wood bats. The last Cubs outfield
prospect with this much promise was Corey Patterson. They rushed
Patterson and vow not to do the same with Harvey. Sammy Sosa's
eventual successor may begin 2004 in extended spring training
before heading to Boise.
#Post#: 529369--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: craig
Date: July 12, 2026, 10:25 pm
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Harvey! Yeah, he was a power-but-contact-problems guy to the
max! Hope Sorrell and Bailey work out better. He was
power-armed RF, not 1B. I have some vague recall of considering
converting to pitcher at some point, when his hitting was beyond
hope....
#Post#: 529370--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: craig
Date: July 12, 2026, 10:54 pm
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Kantro last week said: "“We’ve done a lot of work to figure out
which pitchers are going to have the most success in our system.
Everybody’s development approach is somewhat unique, and ours is
no different. When you look at the pitchers who thrive in our
system, the underlying pillars end up being velocity and spin.
Those are two good places to start – they’re probably
foundational.” He didn't mention command.
His comments seem to fit what you're saying, BlueJay, "lean into
whatever they are good at developing and find guys that need
that skill."
Seems to me that most all of the guys selected have some
appealing spin, and either have some velocity or the perceived
potential to add some.
Horton, I think, is a guy whose command is what ended up setting
him apart. I don't think he came into the draft listing as a
command artist, though?
Tread and Zombro definitely believe that command can be
improved, and that there are lots of factors, many of them
biomechanical. I think they are pretty sophisticated about
optimizing both velo and command. Both connect to having
mechanics that are both optimized and consistent, for a
particular guy.
I thought it was interesting that Townsend said he'd talked to
Zombro, that he thought Zombro was really smart (and nice), and
that he had wanted to get taken by the Cubs, presumably because
he was impressed by Zombro's analysis of how to help him get
better. In Townsend's case, I think one of the media things
(Fangraphs?) talked about a "head whack" that is going to make
it tough for him to hit spots. I think Kantro said that he
thinks they can fix head whack.
I think this will be a really interesting class to watch. They
obviously focused a lot on scouting pitchers, and Zombro was a
big part of that. so part of that process is, as Kantro noted,
figuring out guys who can have success, guys who they see a
pathway to get better. I'm super optimistic.
But yeah, command is going to be central.
#Post#: 529371--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: craig
Date: July 12, 2026, 10:59 pm
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Cubs have had some success with some guys in improving their
command.
-Horton. His draft reports were not a control artist. But his
command emerged as being very good.
-Palencia was a wildman. Last year, his control ended up being
pretty good.
-Ben Brown, both his command and his stuff improved a lot.
-Beck has been a wildman. Suddenly over his last 5 starts, it's
been good. Progress?
-Mule was a wildman. He's still not a control artist, but he's
made considerable progress, I think.
-Same for McGwire. Command still has ways to go, but he's
improved both his command as well as his velocity.
So yeah, I think there are examples of guys who have improved
their command a lot.
Hopeful that some of our picks this weekend will improve a lot,
both velo and command-wise.
#Post#: 529372--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: Reb
Date: July 13, 2026, 12:34 am
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So, Cubs end up taking 16 pitchers (15 college) out of the 21
picks.
Of the five position players, two are catchers (one is HS).
20th rounder is the college catcher and he put up huge slugging
numbers and Kantrovitz seems to love the guy. Well, if you
really love your 20th rounder, probably really like your overall
draft.
Brennan Hudson, C
Round 20
Bats/throws: L/R
School: Georgia
Calling Card: In four college seasons, the 22-year-old Hudson
posted a .646 slugging percentage with 38 homers and 98 RBIs in
144 games. His power really blossomed this past year with
Georgia. As a lefty-swinging first baseman and catcher, Hudson
posted a .294/.466/.730 slash line with 22 homers, 51 RBIs and
39 walks in 56 games for the Bulldogs.
Quote: “He’s probably my gut-feel guy from the Draft. … It’s a
sweet stroke. And he’s got the tools to stay back there as a
catcher. He’s probably one of my favorite picks of this class.”
-- Kantrovitz
#Post#: 529375--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs Draft 2026
DIR By: Reb
Date: July 13, 2026, 3:36 am
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Cubs 5th round HS pitcher Dylan Blomker told his hometown paper,
the Albuquerque Journal, that he'll turn pro immediately
(signing this week) and bypassing LSU.
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