I knew this day would come.
You would fully expect an article entitled The Friday Five to be a write-up of five players. Makes sense, right? Up to this point, that has absolutely been the case. But when I began writing these posts last month, I knew there would be a week where I just couldn’t help myself by sliding an extra name in there.
I sort of accomplished (?) that feat when I dove into the five best names in the system, but I stuck to an alternative strategy by including an additional five names. But today, we are rolling with six players.
I started with a list of guys about 10 or 12 names long, all that feature the best power numbers in the farm system. I pretty easily trimmed up my list one player at a time until I got to six. Then I was stuck. I could trim no longer.
The result? Four guys playing their first games as a Cub in 2021, the top player in the system, and a bunch of large men.
Brennen Davis | OF, Tennessee
Might as well start off at the top, right? I’ve never watched a batter show so much natural pop the opposite way. I tell this story a lot, but I remember watching Davis’ batting practice during his first weekend of full-season ball back in 2019. I was in Dayton to take in some action and interview a few guys (including Brennen) and standing 20 feet away from the batting cage. I can honestly tell you that I’ve never heard a sound quite like Davis hitting a baseball in my entire life. He was playing pepper with the wall in right center, almost like the ball was on a string and that’s the only place it could travel.
The power is legit. We’re talking 30 home run, 40 double potential at the Major League level while keeping the batting average north of .260.
Jordan Nwogu | OF, Myrtle Beach
There are plenty of dudes that call the Cubs farm system home that work their asses off to put themselves in game shape and in the best position they possibly can be to succeed. And then there is Nwogu. Built like an edge rusher that would wow you at the NFL draft combine, the 6-foot-3, 230 pound outfielder is absolutely shredded.
That pure size and strength is enough to get him considered for this list, but add in the fact that he is finally taking to the considerable swing mechanics changes the coaches installed and now you have a player with impressive in-game power in addition to what he shows in BP. His hands stay inside the ball extremely well and it feels like he is just flicking his wrists when the next thing you know, the ball is over the fence in left-center field.
Nelson Velazquez | OF, Tennessee
Nelly has the most homers (18), second most doubles (20), an elite slugging percentage (.506), and leads the system in RBI (66). The numbers alone make him a no-brainer for this list of the best sluggers. Velazquez has always had some of the best raw power in the organization, but three major things have changed this year to allow that pop to play in real-life baseball games.
- His body is more athletic. It allows him to adjust to different pitches in various quadrants of the strike zone and punish them instead of relying on a middle-middle pitch to come his way.
- He is pulling the ball. Velazquez hasn’t entirely sacrificed going the opposite way, but we all know that pull-side power is what will help him continue to rack up the home run numbers.
- He is hitting the ball in the air. You can’t hit a home run by hitting a ground ball to shortstop. He has a 36.6% ground ball rate in South Bend and 32.7% ground ball rate in Tennessee. You absolutely love to see it.
Owen Caissie | OF, Myrtle Beach
We are finally getting are first glimpse of ‘Big Corn’ or ‘ONKC’ or whatever you wanna call this kid. He is huge, he has one of the prettiest swings in the system, he tore up the Arizona Complex League, and he has plenty of raw pop. In fact, he just hit his first full-season tank last night. Enjoy it in all of its glory.
Bryce Ball | 1B, South Bend
Good lord, you wanna talk about large men? I will provide you with one Bryce Ball, aka Ball Bunyan. A big ol’ 6-foot-6, 240 pound farm boy from Iowa, Ball is given a scouting grade of 70 by Fangraphs in the raw power department. In a system that has a decent amount of players that draw a walk, Ball might actually be the best. He has a 20.4% walk rate in his 162 plate appearances as a Cub this year, good for a 199 BB%+.
But most importantly, he is hitting a homer once in every 26 at-bats. If he can improve upon his super-high 53% ground ball rate, that home run number is only going to skyrocket.
Alexander Canario | OF, South Bend
Since joining the Cubs in the Kris Bryant deal, Canario has put on an absolute show. Seven home runs in just 118 plate appearances and we are talking cheap shots either. His bombs have been some of the most magnificent moonshots we have seen this year and he is doing it to all fields. I continue to compare Velazquez and Canario to one another because of their profiles: probably a right fielder that can also play some center, surprisingly good speed, light tower power, too many strikeouts, and too few walks.
If I had to bet on one of the two, I would go with Canario.
Out of the Vines 
[…] five Cubs minor leaguers each week. The topic can be anything from player skill sets like “who has the most power?” to “what dudes have sick […]
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