“We know we need to infuse more talent.” Q&A with Jason McLeod
Earlier this week, Jason McLeod, the Cubs’ senior vice president of player development and amateur scouting, discussed the upcoming MLB Draft (Monday-Wednesday), the development of some prospects in hand and other topics. Here are the highlights of his Q&A with Cubs beat writers.
Q: A lot of teams go with the “best player available” approach, but when you’re picking in the latter part of the first round, how much more does that approach come into play?
JM: “The preparation doesn’t change in terms of the work that we’re going to do. Certainly, when you’re picking near the top or in the Top 10 like we did those first couple of years, you can really hone in your looks on a very select few players that you feel you’re going to have a good chance at. At the same time, like I was saying, the work’s still the same. I think you get a pretty decent feel throughout the spring, looking at the organization picking in front of you and historically what type of players that they like, and that year’s talent pool. So, we still get a decent idea. I’d say maybe it’s a pool of five players, let’s say, at pick 27 that we have a pretty good idea we’ll be selecting from one of those five. And then we do the appropriate work-up as if we would if we were picking in the Top 10.”
Q: Given how heavy you’ve gone on pitchers in recent Drafts, are we beyond the point of really focusing on a massive collection of arms to stock the system?
JM: “I’d say organizationally, it’s still an emphasis. I wouldn’t say we’re going to go in saying it’s got to be a pitcher in the first round. With the way information has changed over the last couple of years, with all the clubs having more pitch data, using a lot more video, using a lot more metrics, certainly it helps. It changes the process of how you’re evaluating players a little bit. But, organizationally, we know that we still, with pitching, it’s still an area of emphasis for us. But, as we approach the Draft, especially in the first round, obviously we’re always going to get the most impact that we can out of that first pick.”
Q: Before Spring Training, you were very excited about the class of pitchers that was reaching Double-A or knocking on the door of Triple-A. Now that we’re approaching June and you’ve had some results to examine, what’s your feeling about that group as we sit here today?
JM: “It’s kind of, I don’t know if tepid’s the right word. Obviously, I’m really happy for Tyson Miller and the start that he’s had to the season. Thomas Hatch has been up and down. There’s been too much inconsistency. He’s been very, very good for four starts. And he’d have three or four really rough starts. So, obviously, you’d like to see more consistency out of him. Unfortunately, one of the guys I was talking about going into the year, Duncan Robinson, got hurt. So, he’s out right now. But looking at the Double-A rotation with Corey Abbott, who’s down very, very well. We’re extremely happy with what he’s done. We moved Paul Richan up to Myrtle Beach. He’s a first-year full-season guy out of the Draft last year. He’s done very well. I know I mentioned a guy by the name of Riley Thompson as one to keep an eye out on. Came out of last year’s Draft. He’s out in South Bend pitching with a mid-90s heater, doing very well as well. Throwing strikes, missing bats. Brailyn Marquez has made all of his starts and he’s competed. He’s done better than competed — he’s done well there for age and level. There are certainly things to point at and be happy about. And there are other guys that haven’t taken that step yet or just haven’t had the outings or year so far that we’re hoping for them. We are in late May, so there’s three months left and they’re putting in the work. They’re working hard. And those are just some of the starters that I’ve mentioned. We have relievers in Double-A who are doing extremely well and would probably be in Triple-A if not for all of the rostered pitchers that we have there right now. So, there are definitely positives to look at, as well as some guys that we’ll need to see them take those steps.”
Q: Is it safe to say, based upon what publications have said, that it’s a hitter-heavy Draft this year, especially at the college ranks?
JM: “Yeah, and I think some of that has to do with just relative to normal years, it’s not as strong of a college Draft from the pitching standpoint, in terms of volume and upside depth as compared to normal years. So, I think because of that, you’re going to be looking at more position players probably getting drafted a little higher than normal, just because the college pitching crop isn’t as deep as it normally is. And that’s not to take anything away from the college position class, and we haven’t even talked about the high school class at all. I think just for that one caveat, the college pitching not being as deep as normal, you’re probably going to see more position players taken because of that.”
Q: How would you assess the importance of the Draft to the team’s current success and to the continued infusion of talent to extend this window and make sure that this success continues at the Major League level?
JM: “Yeah, I know I’ve mentioned this a couple of times, we’re well, well past the point of still congratulating ourselves and being happy about Kris and Kyle and those guys that made it up here. We’ve been able to add some depth there with Bote coming up and helping, but we need to be better. Obviously, with where were are with the timeframe of the Major League club, we know we need to infuse more talent both out of the Draft and internationally. And when looking at the organization right now, we do have some exciting prospects at the lower levels. I think we have guys that we could plug in and help, if need be, at the upper levels. But at the same time, when you’re not picking as high — up in the top where you can get a talent like a Javy Baez and KB and those types of guys — it makes you work that much harder trying to find impact talent and guys you can really build around, and understanding that sometimes you’ve got to take some risks with that and maybe look at the high school class or certainly look at your international talent pool and what you can do from there. You’ve seen some of the guys we’ve traded out of the international talent pool the last couple years. So, it’s what drives us. We know we need to pump our organization back up with talent.”
Q: The history has been with college players, but can we assume you’re not wedded to that if a high school player is there at 27 that you really like and think is an impact guy?
JM: “Absolutely. And again, certainly there’s track record with the college player and there’s history of us taking the college player. A lot of what isn’t seen from the outside looking in is the high school players that we have on our board that are stacked around those college picks that we’ve ended up taking. Sometimes we did have a high school kid there that might’ve been in front of the college player, but another team took him, and vice versa. So, we’re not wedded to a college player, even though that’s what the Draft since the Almora pick has born out. We’re still just looking to get the most talent and impact that we possibly can. The last couple years, it’s been a collehe guy that’s been there. But, there have been high school players that we had right there with Nico and others that we’ve taken. It just so happened that the college guy is the one that fell in our lap.”
Q: Is there anything new with Nico Hoerner’s recovery from his wrist injury or timeline for return?
JM: “Yeah, unfortunately, it was longer than we anticipated and thought it would be. We’re hopeful sitting here in late May that he’ll be able to get down to Arizona possibly in the next two weeks to start swinging a bat again with a potential return date towards the end of June, which is unfortunate, because obviously he had such a great spring and was off to a hot start in Double-A. He gets hit by a pitch and it ended up being more severe than we originally thought.
Q: What’s the status of Brendon Little?
JM: “He’s just on a slow build. Another one that’s obviously disappointing for us organizationally. Certainly for him it’s disappointing, but we’re just going to go real, real slow with him. Right now, there’s no definite timetable of when he’ll be back on the mound competing. The rehab and process of getting him back is one that we’re just going to go slow with. Last year was his first full year being a junior-college Draft. We’re not feeling any need to rush him by any means.”
Q: What’s been the feedback about Adbert Alzolay’s performance?
JM: “He looked great the other day [May 27]. Theo and I were sitting next to each other in the Draft room and we had his start on. We were watching it on MiLB. In New Orleans and he was really good. He was pitching off of his fastball. He had the velocity there that we like. What was most impressive the other day was how his curveball was working. High percentage of strikes with the curveball and a very high percentage of swings and misses on the curveball, which was really, really encouraging, just to see him go out and compete with his mix of pitches that he has. And throwing strikes, pounding the zone and, like I said, getting as swings and misses as he did the other day off his breaking ball, which he was landing for strikes in the zone as well. It was a real, real positive. That was great to see.”
Q: What do you make of Justin Steele’s inconsistency this season so far? Could it be a case of being in a feeling-out period given that he missed time with injury last year?
JM: “I’d like to say that now. Last year, certainly. More than anything right now for Justin is really finding a consistent rhythm in his delivery so that he can consistently is staying in his throwing lane and pounding the zone. He’s such an athletic kid. I think sometimes he overthinks what he’s doing on the mound and it causes him to get a little too mechanical with himself. That’s when he starts fighting his release point and the consistency and the command of the strike zone. He’s fully healthy. The reins are off. It’s really just him going out there every fifth day and letting his natural athleticism take over and really attacking the strike zone, not trying to be too fine, because his stuff’s really good. I think for him to just go out and be comfortable doing that, not overthink things.
Q: Following up on Alzolay, do you think it’s feasible to think that he could reach the Majors this year?
JM: “I think it’s depending on what the Major League needs are. For me, it’s a matter of if he’s healthy, which he is, obviously. So, assuming he’s healthy, and then dependent on what the Major League club’s needs are. Those two things will have to align. You don’t want to put the cart in front of the horse in any way. It’s just, it was really impressive watching him go out and do what he did a couple of days ago in New Orleans.
— JB
