You can rejoice a little bit, Cubs fans– top prospect Javier Baez will be called up time for tomorrow’s game in Colorado. Baez’s own brother was the first to report the news, with Bruce Levine of 67othescore.com confirming. Baez struggled greatly at the outset of the year, batting .145 through May 16th, but has turned it around since then, batting .306 after that date, with 20 HR and 69 RBI over those games. Overall, Baez has a .260 batting average to go along with 23 HR, 80 RBI, 16 SB, and an .833 OPS. Baez has also shown decent speed and baserunning skills with 16 steals in 24 attempts.
Baez is a consensus top 3 prospect in the loaded Cubs system and top 10 prospect overall, although third baseman Kris Bryant has overtaken him for the top spot in the Cubs system that Baez possessed last season. However, Baez at least has bragging rights over Bryant in getting to the big leagues first. The 21 year-old Puerto Rican should see plenty of playing time at second base (with Startlin Castro already entrenched at short), as Arismendy Alcantara will likely move to center field full time. The call-up gives the Cubs an enviable amount of young offensive talent at baseball’s highest level, as the team already has Alcantara, Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo, forming a formidable young foursome in the Cubs lineup.
The Cubs, of course, also have tons of offensive talent in the minors, with Bryant, shortstop Addison Russell and outfielders Jorge Soler and Albert Almora forming the “Future Five” along with Baez.
Chicago will look to give Baez a good long look throughout the rest of the season, and although he will probably no longer play his natural position of shortstop, he could see time at third base along with second. The Cubs would hope that Baez can secure himself a starting spot for next season, but we’ll just have to wait and see how he performs.
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