Last night we saw the Cubs go with a bit of a surprise pick when they selected Jordan Wicks, the best left-handed pitcher in the draft. Today, we will see the festivities tip off at 1:00 pm ET starting with the second round of the draft and concluding with round ten. I will be following along as the day moves forward and posting here with my notes on each new Cubs player.
Here. We. Go.
Round 2, Pick 56: James Triantos
Position: Drafted as a third baseman (shortstop in high school)
School: James Madison High School (VA)
Notes: Major, major shoutout to my guy Greg Zumach at Ivy Futures for being all over James Triantos and the Cubs relationship for the last couple months. Triantos rose up boards thanks to his absurd college numbers to go along with a swing that I can best describe as controlled violence. He pairs terrific contact rates with next-level batted ball numbers and was the star player of one of the best high school teams in the state of Virginia. If you watch his swing, it stays in the zone for a long time, which could lead to some really good power numbers in addition to the hit tool that he is already displaying. Triantos was announced as a third baseman after spending his time in high school at shortstop. His 6-1 and 195 pound frame could slide over to third base really well with a good-looking arm. Absolutely worth noting that Triantos was scouted by none other than Cubs super scout Billy Swoope, a guy this front office seems to trust with their life.
Round 3, Pick 93: Drew Gray
Position: LHP
School: IMG Academy (FL)
Notes: This is a very modern pick and the Cubs will put all that pitching infrastructure work to good use. Gray was actually a two-way player at IMG, one of the top prep schools in the country, but transitioned to the mound this year. The teenage, 6-3 lefty features a fastball that sits in the low-90s that he works up in the zone to generate his whiffs thanks to 2800 RPMs and a curveball low and out of the zone to change eye levels. As any high school pitcher does, there will be some work to be had with Gray but it will be fun to watch the St. Louis suburb native develop in the footsteps of Kohl Franklin, DJ Herz, and Koen Moreno.
Round 4, Pick 123: Christian Franklin
Position: OF
School: Arkansas
Notes: It is sometimes difficult to find a college bat with a significant amount of upside in the fourth round, but I think the Cubs did it here with Franklin. In addition to the big potential, the centerfielder from the regular season’s best college baseball team has a true all-around skillset. It is a compliment in itself for a player to start as a freshman at a SEC powerhouse. He can definitely stick in center as a pro, showing some really good abilities both with his reads and his arm this past year. With the bat, Franklin shows good pop and the pull-side power on fastballs. He will need to improve on swinging through pitches in the zone but he already has done so, fairly significantly, in his college career. He also puts together a really good at-bat with two strikes. Ranked #39 by Prospects Live and #52 by MLB Pipeline, I think the Cubs got an absolute steal of a player that I pegged as a second round pick before the draft began and could wind up as a 20-20 player.
Round 5, Pick 154: Liam Spence
Position: Shortstop
School: Tennessee
Notes: This is a terrific senior sign type of player. Originally from Australia, Spence was the starting shortstop on the College World Series Tennessee team and projects to be either a second baseman or a utility player at the next level. He has a next-level plate approach, walking more than he struck out each of the last two seasons for the Volunteers. In fact, his 17.3% walk rate is elite. He doesn’t have a whole lot of power but he did tap into it a bit more this past season, logging five homers and 11 doubles. He has some pretty good speed on the bases but didn’t use it to steal too often. I think you are looking at an underslot signing here and one that could advance through the system quickly based on his age (23 on draft day) and impressive hit tool/plate approach. PS: We have our first JuCo bandit!
Round 6, Pick 184: Riley Martin
Position: LHP
School: Quincy University (IL)
Notes: This one is fun. Martin comes from Quincy University, a D2 school in Illinois (and the hometown of much of my family). I don’t have a whole lot on this guy, but in looking at his stats, he did nothing but rack up strikeouts. He went 78.2 innings this year and had 152 Ks. That’s 12 games, 11 of which he struck out double digit batters. His game-high was 19 strikeouts in a matchup with a University of Illinois Springfield program that went 37-8 this year, throwing 137 pitches in that game. He led the GLVC conference in strikeouts, 50 more than the second place finisher. The heater will sit in the low-90s and he pairs it with a curveball.
Round 7, Pick 214: Parker Chavers
Position: OF
School: Coastal Carolina
Notes: I spent the time to preview Parker Chavers each of the last two seasons and now he is a Chicago Cub. He reminds me a bit of 4th round pick Christian Franklin in the fact that he has a really good, four-tool way of playing the game. He has the ability to play a really good centerfield and has some serious pop in his 5-11, 185 pound frame. My big concern coming into this season were the strikeouts and he did a really good job in lowering that number from 18% in 2019 all the way down to 13% this season. This was his first year back from shoulder surgery but it didn’t seem to affect him at the plate on his way to a .318/.407/.477 slash line. The only reason you are seeing him down here in the 7th round is because of his age (23) and his shoulder surgery.
Round 8, Pick 244: Casey Opitz
Position: Catcher
School: Arkansas
Notes: This is fun as hell. How can a player that profiles as a well below-average hitter go in the 8th round of the draft? Because Opitz is the best defensive catcher I have ever seen in college. He blocks balls in the dirt extremely well. He has an ELITE arm behind the dish. And the 23-year-old leads a pitching staff in ways that Cardinals fans talk about Yadier Molina. He is every pitcher’s favorite teammate, a true hype man, terrific pitch framer, and calls an incredible game. If you want to know what it feels like to watch the most fun parts about baseball, check out Opitz do his thing.
Round 9, Pick 274: Chase Watkins
Position: LHP
School: Oregon State
Notes: We have our first reliever off the board to the Cubs. Watkins was strictly out of the bullpen, going less than three innings in every single outing this year up until two 3-inning outings to finish off his campaign. He is a lefty that features a low-90s fastball, a pretty good looking curveball, and potentially a slider/cutter to add to the repertoire. Perfect Game’s Brian Sakowski describes the heater as having lots of angle based on his arm slot. There is potential the Cubs convert him to the rotation, but I think we are looking at semi-quirky, large lefty out of the bullpen moving forward.
Round 10, Pick 304: Peter Matt
Position: OF
School: Duke
Notes: We love Ivy League guys and Matt was one for the first four seasons of his college career before transferring to Duke for his extra year of eligibility. An outfielder standing 6-2 and 220 pounds at 23-years-old, the man with two first names put up just four total home runs during his time at Penn and then messed around and hit 15 this season. He added an extra 15 stolen bases for good measure and you’re looking a power/speed guy. Jim Callis reports big-time pop and power potential for Matt but his slash of .297/.358/.566 proves he can do more at the plate than just hit bombs.
That’s it and that’s all for Day Two of the MLB Draft. The updated breakdown of players:
High school bats: 1
High school arms: 1
College bats: 5
College arms: 3
Thanks for following along today. I’ll be back tomorrow following along with the Cubs’ picks in rounds 11 through 20 with the festivities kicking off at noon ET.
Out of the Vines 