MLB Pipeline Places 3 Cubs on Their Top 100 Prospects List

The Cubs haven’t gotten heavy representation on prospect lists so far this winter, seeing only Brailyn Márquez and Brennen Davis on Baseball America’s top 100. Ed Howard and Miguel Amaya doubled that number on Baseball Prospectus’s top 101. Davis popped at No. 51 on Keith Law’s top 100 for The Athletic that was released Thursday, not too shabby for just 68 career games, and Márquez came in at 72 in spite of “delivery flaws.”

MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospect list from the end of 2020 featured Márquez at 63, Davis was at 72, and Amaya back at 91. I thought the Cubs might get four onto the list with Howard just scraping into the late 90’s, but that sticking with those three was more realistic. That’s exactly what Pipeline did when their updated list dropped Thursday night.

Márquez came in at number 60, followed immediately by Davis at 61, and Amaya bumped up two notches to 89. For the three to continue to move up, Márquez will have to show more control and consistency with his pitches, Davis will just need to play for an extended time at higher levels, and Amaya just has to hit at Double-A. The catchers should find Tennessee to his liking, especially after the pitcher-friendly environs at Myrtle Beach. All three players had the chance to work at the Cubs’ alternate site and may be more advanced than their peers as a result.

For those of you who put stock in these lists, those that come out later in the year should provide a better picture of the talent in the system because there should actually be a 2021 season. It’s hard to take these rankings too seriously after a five-round draft and the cancelation of both the college and minor league seasons. There simply hasn’t been enough scouting or live action over the last year.

Some additional Cubs names to look for are Chase Strumpf, Kohl Franklin, Christopher Morel, and maybe even Ryan Jensen. To be honest, almost anyone could bust out and catch evaluators’ eyes with a great first half, including Riley Thompson, Richard Gallardo, or Cole Roederer.

We might see some hype for Cristian Hernandez or Ronnier Quintero, depending on how they do in the Arizona Rookie League.

Pipeline’s top 30 team lists should be out in the next 2-3 weeks, just in time for the scheduled start of spring training. I’m particularly looking forward to where Hernandez gets slotted and how the newest Cubs from the Yu Darvish are ranked in the system.