Todd Johnson

Cub Central’s June MiLB All-Star Team is OF and RP Heavy

Putting together this month’s All-Star team was a bit of a struggle. I started getting the framework for this list over the weekend and I saw that I needed to let the last five games of the month play out before coming to a final and conclusive squad. While it was disappointing to see some of the monthly statistics for some of the Cubs’ top prospects, there are others we should celebrate today. 

Hitter of the Month

This award was not close. While Nelson Maldonado was the only clear Cubs prospect to be in the running, but it was Iowa OF Michael Hermosillo who lapped the field hitting over .300 and having a wRC+ of 183, much higher than Maldonado. 

Here is the rest of the position player squad. There is no shortstop on this squad. And, no, that occlusion is not an error. 

C – Pablo Aliendo

1B – Ryan Reynolds

2B – Carlos Sepulveda

3B – Trent Giambrone

OF – Yohendrick Pinango, Darius Hill, Nelson Maldonado, Yonathan Perlaza, Michael Hermosillo, Ian Miller, Jonathan Sierra, Jacob Wetzel, and Nelson Velazquez

Starting Pitcher of the Month

As for the pitchers, injuries took a toll on a few guys. Peyton Remy and Sam Thoresen were both under 3.00 and on track for their second All-Star nods when they went down with injuries. Remy did come back last Sunday to make his third start of the month and would end up with an ERA of 2.51 for the month in just 14.1 Double-A innings; not enough to qualify for the award, but good enough to be on the squad. 

Here are this month’s starting rotation guys: Max Bain, Derek Casey, Manuel Espinoza, Peyton Remy, and Sam Thoresen (honorable mention)  

As for who the starting pitcher of the month is, it really came down to their last start. 

If you would’ve asked me last Friday, Pitcher of the Month would’ve been Javier Assad who then got blown out in his last start. So I decided to wait and see how these Bain, Casey, and Espinoza finished out the month.

In trying to pick the Starting Pitcher of the Month, I changed my mind about three times. At first I was going to roll with Derek Casey and his 3.21 ERA and 36 Ks but his start this week got pushed back. Had Casey pitched Wednesday night, he might’ve had a chance to widen his strikeout lead and lower his ERA below 3. Instead, both games Tuesday and Wednesday this week for South Bend were canceled due to a rainout and power outage.

Pelican starter Manny Espinoza was just as deserving as Casey. Espinoza had a lower ERA at 3.09. He struck out 24 guys which is a little more than the batter per inning. But the stat that really flipped the coin for me was walks. Espinoza only walked five guys the whole month, 72% less than Casey and Bain. While 5 is not insane, it is crazy good. And for having that type of control, along with the lowest starter’s ERA, Espinoza’s going to win June‘s Starting Pitcher of the Month.

The All-Star Bullpen

Like the outfielders above, there were a plethora of great performances by some relievers including three guys who played at two levels in the month of June. Ben Leeper, Scott Kobos, and Joe Nahas all bumped up and performed admirably at their new level.

Here’s who made the reliever portion of the squad for June: Ethan Roberts, Cayne Ueckert, Bryan Hudson, Manny Rodriguez, Ben Leeper, Dakota Mekkes, Jeremiah Estrada, Joe Nahas, Scott Kobos, Gabriel Jaramillo, and Danis Correa.

Reliever of the Month

In trying to pick just one guy for the Reliever of the Month, a strange turn of events actually affected the outcome. Scott Kobos, who had not allowed an earned run at South Bend missed the last two weeks of the month. Ben Leeper was promoted in the beginning of the month from Tennessee to Iowa and had a small adjustment to make before he started just mowing down guys. He put up an ERA of 0.87 at Iowa and hitters hit just .095 against him. In fact, he struck out 26 hitters in a little over 13 innings between Double-A and Triple-A!

As for Ethan Roberts, he had almost the exact same amount of innings as Leeper, but only had 15 strikeouts. Still, Roberts had a 0.77 ERA in June. Opponents hit less than .105 against him (WOW!) and he did it in a variety of roles. Some days he was the closer, some days he was a set up man, while others he came in during the middle innings.

However, despite Ethan’s excellence and versatility, Leeper did so in an equally impressive manner with more Ks. As a result, Ben Leeper wins this month’s Reliever of the Month.

Don’t be surprised next week if Leeper wins the Cubs very own Pitcher of the Month as a reliever, a feat that is very rare.

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8 comments

  1. Todd, while the Cubs may have issues with developing young starting pitching, the number of quality relief pitchers within the system is impressive. Leeper just looks like a steal. For an undrafted, low signing bonus, after draft free agent. Wow. If things continue for the Cubs like the past 10 days, I would consider to trade some of the veteran relievers, then go with the youngsters, such as Mekkes, Roberts, Leeper, and maybe Ueckert and Manny Rodriguez (if these two perform well at Iowa, well when both are there).
    After getting Steele back, this has the potential of a very nice, cost controlled bullpen, for a long period of time. For Leeper, it would be a ton of progress and systems to go through – in just one season – but he has performed great with each new challenge. Disappointing about what happened to Kobos, he was outstanding pre-injury.

    Sadly, I think what we see with the Cubs now, is reality. In my thinking, at the start of the season, the current Cubs roster was (and is), a .500 team. Sadly, the Brewers are clearly better. By a lot. The Cardinals might be also be better, if they can locate some more pitching. So unless things change by early to mid-July, I am in favor of giving opportunity to the youngsters, that have performed well inside the organization. All of the young relief pitchers I have mentioned, have done so.

    Might have gone with Espinoza for the starter this month, but thats splitting hairs. Enjoy the nights he is pitching at Myrtle. While I am very high on all the Cubs prospects at shortstop, it is rather disappointing about the lack of hitting from all of them, so far. Injury has held back progress, but maybe Ed Howard is breaking out again. 2 hits last night and a recent home run. Lets hope. Was expecting more from Verdugo this season, but he was also hurt.

    Jed does not call for my advice, but these my opinions.

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    • I definitely wouldn’t say the Brewers are *clearly* a better team let alone by alot. They just played as well as they have all year and their offense is bottom ten in wRC+, wOBA, the starting pitchers have never gone a full 162 as starters, and the bullpen isn’t all that deep. I don’t even buy that the Brewers are a better team right now, let alone are that and will pull away over the next 81(!!) games

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      • Jeff, much respect, but you must have watched a different series than I did this week against the Brewers. They were dominate. While the Brewers rosrer has some flaws, are they anything close to the Cubs? Sadly, in my opinion, no. Will disagree, unless there is major change in play by the Cubs, the Brewers will pull away.

        As far as the draft, hoping Ford or Montgomery are there at 21. Don-t understand the last MLB mock…..had for dropping a ton. Interesting

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  2. Some news, Todd! One of the players I’d take at 21 is joining the NCAA and not going to sign, Josh Hartle

    Another name for 21:

    Updated pool:

    Kumar Rocker RHSP
    Kahlil Watson 2B
    Harry Ford C
    Jordan Wicks LHSP
    Andrew Abbott LHSP
    Edwin Arroyo SS
    Gage Jump LHSP

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