MiLB Mailbag – Episode X: What Can Cole Roederer Do to Be a Part of the Next Core?

This week’s question is from Cory Iwaszewski – @CDub1519. He wants to know: “What can Cole Roederer do to become part of that next core?”

This is a good question that has several layers to it. It also requires some kind of understanding that development is not the same for everybody. For Cole Roederer, his development truly began somewhere in the middle of 2019.

Cole was taken in round 2C of the 2018 draft right out of high school. For the Cubs, it was rare for them to take a high school position player so high. In fact, they just took fellow HS pick Brennen Davis just 15 picks before.

There’s no standard measure of time for how long it takes a high school player to develop into a major league one. Sometimes it can happen in 3 to 4 years, other times it takes 5 to 7.

For Cole, he busted right out on the scene in 2018 with an outstanding start in the Arizona Rookie League. In just 36 games, he posted a wRC+ of 129. Heading into the 2019 season, it was thought that he would be headed towards Eugene as a likely landing spot. Instead, Roederer skipped Eugene and headed straight for South Bend on opening day at just 19.

South Bend was quite the learning experience for Cole. In addition to the chilly weather in the Great Lakes Region in April, the opposing team put the shift on in his first at-bat and that tended to be the case for all of 2019. As a result, Cole struggled to find holes to hit.

For most of the summer, he had his occasional moments where he would have a five hit game, hit for the cycle as well as hit two home runs in a game twice. It was clear from his monthly splits that he was going to have to make some adjustments. If he was going to succeed, Cole needed to find some consistency in his production.

Here is why everyone is so high on Cole Roederer. It is such a beautiful swing. pic.twitter.com/Q3eYmuGUx4

— TheBullpen🐾 (@RealCubsAnalyst) August 2, 2019

It covering him last year, it was rare that I got to see him at three different points. I saw him in early May in Clinton Iowa, I saw him again for a whole week in July in Wisconsin at Appleton and Beloit, and I saw him in the playoffs, again at Clinton. This much is clear: a 140 game grind took its toll on him physically. The 5-foot-10 and 180 pound kid looked to have lost quite a bit of weight over the course of the season. His mind stayed tough right up to the final out, which he caught to win the Midwest League title.

Luckily for Cole, he has a good support system with his parents, Hitting Coach Paul McAnulty, and others who helped Cole figure out just what he needs to do to make it through a season.

1. He definitely needs to “physically” take better care of himself. He showed up to spring training looking pretty buff. He later said in an interview that he’s gained 30 pounds since the end of the 2019 season. I think we can put a checkmark in that box.

Cole Roederer takes batting practice. pic.twitter.com/8zDWqJsNdE

— Stephanie Lynn (@SRL590) March 12, 2020

Then this fall, Cole looked like he did not miss arm days at the gym (Pic by Rich Biesterfeld).

2. His approach at the plate changed greatly over the course of 2019. In the playoffs, he had a .421 on base percentage which was tops on the team as he led the team in runs in the postseason. He looked like he was seeing the ball really well the plate and was able to judiciously layoff pitches that, earlier in the year, he would’ve tried to pull and end up grounding out weakly to the right side. We can hopefully put a checkmark by that box, too.

That carried over to instructs, a little over a year later.

Good reading this by @jimcallisMLB on Cole Roederer
"He is making better decisions on changeups and offspeed pitches. That's really been the focus, working more to the middle of the field. His power will happen organically and he doesn't have to manufacture it."

— Todd ⚾️🐻🦌 (@CubsCentral08) October 30, 2020

3. When the 2021 season comes, using the whole field is going to be the biggest thing he works on. His swing generates such easy power that going the other way or up the middle should work well for him.

Had Cole gotten to play a 2020 season, I thought that he might have started back at South Bend unless he tore it up in spring training. For 2021, he will instead start in high A baseball, ironically back in South Bend. Even at just 21-years-old (for which he will be for the whole season), he is still going to be (on average) two years younger than most of the guys there.

When I watch Cole hit, he looks like the type of prospect who will get better as he goes up a level. He punishes strikes. The higher he goes up, the more those guys are around the plate. If he is using the whole field, we could see a much different Cole. However, he can’t do it all in one AB or one game or in one month. It is going to be a process and developing through experience to instill that consistent type of approach.