This article is part of a series of posts that act as an alternate version of a scouting report. If you are interested in learning the answers to the most simple prospect questions, feel free to check out this and more at the Prospect Snapshot homepage.

Who is he?

Kohl Franklin was drafted by the Cubs in the 6th round out of Broken Arrow High School in Oklahoma and signed for $540,000. He is a 21-year-old right-handed starting pitcher with a prototypical starter’s build, standing 6-4 and 190 pounds. Franklin has put together just one full professional season together, but was very impressive during his time with Short-Season Eugene and Low-A South Bend.

Kohl has MLB bloodlines as his uncle is former St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin. He features a three pitch mix with a fastball that sits in the low-90s and touches 95 MPH, a very advanced changeup for someone his age, and a new spike-curve that was adopted in the heralded pitch lab. Franklin is one of top pitching prospects in the system and the best arm in the lower minors.

What do the numbers look like?

Franklin experienced his first full season as a pro in 2019 and did not disappoint on the stat sheet. He spent nearly the entire season (39 innings) in Short Season Eugene before making one appearance in South Bend to finish off the year. Overall that came out to a very impressive 2.36 ERA in 11 starts. His strikeout-rate was upper-echelon good for Cubs starters in the system at 28.9% and he didn’t let the walks get out of hand at 10.6%. In fact, across the board you won’t find a stat that jumps off the page as being anything of concern. The righty limited the hits (6.6 H/9), didn’t allow too many longballs (5.6% home runs per flyball), and kept it on the ground nearly half the time the ball was put in play (47.6%). If you can find something negative in the numbers, be sure to let me know.

What makes him good?

From the moment Franklin was drafted, he was not your typical high school signee. His changeup is incredibly advanced, mostly due to the fact that he used it as his out-pitch in high school in lieu of a curveball. It has plenty of fade and seems to tunnel well with his fastball. The curveball has been reworked into the Cubs brass’ favorite spike-curve grip and can be really impressive if he uses it properly as a chase pitch.

His body shouts that of a big league starter, especially now that he has grown an extra couple inches over the last year, and he has the athleticism to repeat his delivery. That means he should have the control and command to remain in the rotation. His three-pitch mix is what will allow him to progress through the system with ease.

What needs some work?

I can promise you that his fashion sense is not something that needs any work. Instead he will need to prove that his hard work during the MiLB layoff was beneficial to his pitch development. He tells me that his heater should be sitting in the mid-90s now, and if he comes out in 2021 proving that to be true while showing that he is more comfortable using the hook in all counts, the results will absolutely come for this kid.

Besides that, it just comes down to the fact that he has only pitched in 3 innings with a full-season affiliate and 50.2 innings total. By no fault of his own, he hasn’t yet proven enough as a professional. Once he has the chance to approach or surpass the 100 inning mark, you will see his name popping up on Top 100 lists everywhere.

When could we see him in Chicago?

Projecting out when prospects could potentially make it to the majors is difficult, but with Franklin the process seems as simple as it could possibly be from a guy with only one year of pro ball under his belt. You can expect him to check the lower-minors off his list in 2021 and follow that up by tackling the upper-minors in 2022. A lot of things can change in Chicago between now and then, but after a year of getting comfortable and growing accustomed to the major league life in 2023, you could see Kohl Franklin slotted into a permanent role in the middle of the Chicago rotation by the year 2024.