The Cubs minor league system is not know for being deep in pitching.
So it was surprising to note that four minor league Cub pitchers were taken in the AAA phase of the Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings.
The results of Cub farm hands changing teams:
Cincinnati Reds took Pin-Chieh Chen, 2B, Cubs
AA/AAA Age 23: 5 HR 46 RBI 21 SB, .263 BA
Los Angeles Angels took Ariel Ovando, LHP, Cubs, RF/1B
2014 A ball hitting: 1 HR 14 RBI .237 BA in 58 games
2015 Rk pitching: 15 games 21 IP 4-0 0.43 ERA, 0.952 WHIP
A converted hitter into a pitcher with little experience is kind of a wild card pick.
New York Yankees took Julian Aybar, RHP, Cubs
Age 23, Rk pitching 20 games: 8-1, 1.82 ERA, 0.882 WHIP
St. Louis Cardinals took Michael Heesch, LHP, Cubs
Age 25
In 2014 A/AAA: 4-1, 2.03 ERA, 1.147 WHIP in 25 games
In 2015 A+ ball : 8-2, 2.24 ERA, 1.259 WHIP in 33 games
Heesch was on some prospect boards:
The 25-year old left-handed starter (22 games, 22 starts) was the Cubs 8th round pick in 2012. This year he spent the entire season in advanced-A going 8-2 with a 2.24 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and held opponents to a .238 average. He throws a heavy fastball in the low 90′s with good tailing action that actually broke 4 bats in a two innings span this year. The 6’5 pitcher could fit the a roster as a LOOGY after holding lefty hitters to a .165/.259/.186 slash line in 2015.
