Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. Jordan Bastian has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2005, including the Cubs since the 2019 season. |
CHICAGO -- The Cubs have enjoyed a strong start to the season in the big leagues, piling up runs at a high rate and seizing the top spot in the National League Central. While the big league club has been garnering plenty of attention, the season’s first month also had plenty of standouts down on the farm for the North Siders. Here are the picks for the top position player and pitcher at each full-time affiliate before the calendar flipped to May: TRIPLE-A IOWA Player: C Moisés Ballesteros The 21-year-old Ballesteros -- Pipeline’s No. 4 Cubs prospect and No. 64 on the Top 100 list -- had an eye-popping opening month. In 24 games, the catcher hit at a .402 (39-for-97) clip with four homers, seven doubles, one triple, 16 RBIs, 16 runs and nearly as many walks (10) as strikeouts (12). Ballesteros posted a .459 on-base percentage and .619 slugging percentage. Pitcher: RHP Cade Horton Coming off an injury-shortened 2024 season, the 23-year-old Horton (Pipeline’s No. 2 Cubs prospect and No. 47 on the Top 100) enjoyed a stellar start to this season. In the opening month, the right-hander spun a 1.17 ERA with 28 strikeouts against 10 walks in 23 innings. Horton limited batters to a .135 average (.486 OPS), with just 10 hits allowed in five starts. |
DOUBLE-A KNOXVILLE Player: 1B/3B B.J. Murray Jr. The 25-year-old Murray only hit .222 in the first month of the season, but he also put up a solid .360 OBP to go along with a .486 SLG. Along with the .846 OPS, the corner infielder collected six homers, 13 RBIs, 12 runs scored and 15 walks in 21 games. Murray, who is from the Bahamas, was a 15th-round pick in the 2021 Draft. Pitcher: RHP Grant Kipp Signed as an undrafted free agent out of Yale in August 2022, the 25-year-old Kipp was a standout for the Smokies in the first month. In four starts, the right-hander turned in a 3.12 ERA with 21 strikeouts and six walks in 17 1/3 innings. Kipp held opposing batters to a .200 average in the process. |
HIGH-A SOUTH BEND Player: OF Ivan Brethowr The Cubs picked Brethowr, 22, in the seventh round of the ‘22 Draft out of UC Santa Barbara. Out of the gates this season, the 6-foot-6 outfielder pieced together a .300/.488/.417 slash line (.905 OPS) with two homers, one double, eight RBIs, 12 runs and 18 walks (compared to 19 strikeouts) in 20 games. Pitcher: RHP Jaxon Wiggins The 23-year-old Wiggins -- ranked No. 10 on Pipeline’s Top 30 list for the Cubs -- continues to make strides since last season’s return from Tommy John surgery. In his first four appearances this year, the righty logged a 1.10 ERA with 22 strikeouts and 10 walks in 16 1/3 innings. Wiggins (picked in the second round of the 2023 Draft) held batters to a .140 average. |
SINGLE-A MYRTLE BEACH Player: 1B Cameron Sisneros Sisneros -- selected in the 14th round of the 2024 Draft -- posted a .268/.388/.393 slash in the season’s first month. In 17 games for the Pelicans, the 23-year-old first baseman notched one homer, four doubles, seven RBIs and had more walks (nine) than strikeouts (eight). Then on the first day of May, Sisneros kept things rolling with a 4-for-5 showing. Pitcher: RHP Brayden Risedorph Risedorph, 21, was a 20th-round pick by the Cubs in the 2024 Draft. The righty reliever enjoyed a strong start to this season, spinning a 0.00 ERA in his seven outings in the opening month. Risedorph racked up 16 strikeouts, issued only two walks and scattered three hits with three unearned runs on his line. He held batters to a .077 average with a 0.42 WHIP. |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Pete Crow-Armstrong just put together a 17-game stretch that included nine home runs, 21 RBIs and six stolen bases. Who was the last Cubs player to post at least those marks in a stretch of 17 games? A. Sammy Sosa B. Javier Báez C. Christopher Morel D. No one |
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When Brewers reliever Joel Payamps sent a slider tumbling low and out of the strike zone to Crow-Armstrong on Friday, the Cubs' center fielder still decided to swing at the pitch. It turned out well, considering the baseball wound up in the second deck of American Family Field’s right-field stands for Crow-Armstrong’s second homer of the night. Crow-Armstrong’s bat path and swing mechanics give him the ability to tackle pitches below the strike zone. “That’s kind of a blessing and a curse,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It didn’t really work out well for me last year, but I think being able to have better at-bats this year has definitely allowed me to take better swings on those kinds of pitches regularly.” Through Saturday’s action, Crow-Armstrong boasted a .769 slugging percentage on pitches below the middle of the zone. The slider that he hit against Payamps was just 0.86 feet off the ground, per Statcast -- the lowest pitch hit for a home run in the Majors across the ‘24-25 seasons. In fact, Crow-Armstrong has two of the three lowest on that list, having also launched a homer off a Miles Mikolas breaking ball that was 0.90 feet off the ground on July 14 last year. Crow-Armstrong is trying to strike the balance between harnessing this skill without fully leaning into it. “Realistically, I think the goal is to not be swinging at those all the time,” Crow-Armstrong said. “If that’s just a pitch that I see and react to, I’m giving myself the room to swing at it. I’ve always hit the ball well down. I would really just attribute it to that -- I’ve kind of always done that. But I don’t love getting into the habit of hitting those pitches well. That usually leads to some chase.” |
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• Shota Imanaga exits early with hamstring injury in Milwaukee. Read more >> • PCA’s power surge continues in Cubs’ “second home.” Read more >> • Michael Busch belts a much “deserved” grand slam. Read more >> • Chicago did something no team had done against Paul Skenes. Read more >> • Pipeline highlights prospects to watch as Rookie ball begins. Read more >> |
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D. No one Crow-Armstrong is the first Cubs player on record to have at least nine homers, 21 RBIs and six steals in a 17-game span (April 13 through Saturday). The closest any Cubs batter has come is Sosa, who had two similar stretches late in the 1995 season, but he topped out at five stolen bases in those periods. |
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