Breaking Down The Cubs' 2017 First Round Draft Picks
The Cubs drafted two college pitchers with the 27th and 30th picks of the 2017 draft last night. They also got their asses kicked by the Mets and Jacob deGrom in routine fashion 6-1 while grounding into 5 double plays. This blog is about the former.
#27. Brendon Little, LHP – 6’2”, 215
If you like baseball then you like left handed pitchers that throw gas. The two interests go hand-in-hand. And if that’s the case, then please meet Chicago Cubs 2017 1st round draft pick, Brendon Little.
“I go to State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and these are my eyebrows.” – Brendon Little
1. Brendon is from Pennsylvania, which isn’t a bad place to be from if you want to be good at baseball. The south has nice weather, but that’s nothing compared to growing up in the country’s hotbed of heavy industrial manufacturing. Rust belt kids come out of the womb with developed forearms. They have natural advantages.
2. Brendon started his career at UNC but only pitched 4 innings as a Freshman last year. He then spent the summer in the Cape where he posted a 3.68 ERA in 13 games and 22 innings with 29 strikeouts against 7 walks with 18 hits. Scouts praised his stuff enough for him to transfer to State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota, or SCFMS for you college diehards, to increase his exposure and open himself up to draft eligibility in 2017. Smart move, young man.
3. Semi-unrelated… I am amazed that someone can pitch 4 innings at UNC in an entire season then turn around that summer and throw 22 innings in the Cape. Like there’s too much depth at UNC for him to get a couple bullshit starts, but enough room in the Cape?? Get the fuck outta my face with that nonsense. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills as I type this.
4. Little throws 92-95 consistently with a high of 97. Again, from the left side.
5. Everything else is going to be average at best for right now. I’ve read enough reports and seen enough that he fits the same profile as pretty much any other first rounder out of a Junior College: he’s got great velocity and stuff with limited command on the offspeed but he shows enough promise on the offspeed when it’s on that you think he could be really really good. That is assuming it all comes together and clicks. To be honest, he probably spends more time trying to find his offspeed than he does actually throwing it.
6. That said, it should take a while for his development to come together. He’s been a noticed arm for a long time, but he hasn’t had the live reps against top flight competition. Your cream doesn’t rise until you have to regularly compete against the best of your peers. That’s a fact in life and baseball.
7. He should get extremely limited action in 2017 based on the fact that he’s thrown 86 innings already after throwing just 26 total between last spring and summer. I can’t imagine a situation where the club rushes his development.
8. Likely a bullpen guy in the long run but as with most other guys in his circumstances, he’ll get the ball as a starter until (1) he can’t start anymore or (2) it’s obvious that he would be an impact reliever at the MLB level like CJ Edwards
9. Overall, I am thrilled with this pick.
30. Alex Lange, RHP – 6’3”, 200
The Cubs took Alex Lange 30th overall out of LSU where he’s been the ace of the staff since showing up in 2015. Here’s what you should probably know:
“My eyebrows are bigger than Brendon’s.” – Alex Lange, allegedly
1. A story from Baseball America on Alex Lange as a 16 year-old visiting with LSU Head Coach, Paul Mainieri:
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“Just sitting there talking to him,” Mainieri said, “he carried himself with a level of maturity and could articulate his thoughts so very clearly, and I just remember being captivated by him in my office as a 16-year-old. I was just captivated by his personality, his poise, his composure, his maturity, and I thought, wow, if this kid can pitch at all, he’s going to be the total package.”
2. That quote comes after the part where Mainieri said he was fat and inconsistent, so it’s nice to know that Lange has battled some adversity in his career, however minor.
3. Lange’s dad is retired Air Force so take that for what it is regarding his development and work ethic.
4. He relies a lot on a power curveball, which is kind of cool on paper but very impractical in professional baseball as a starting pitcher. He used it to rack up a lot of strikeouts early in his career at LSU where he was an All American in 2015 as a freshman after going 12-0 with a 1.97 ERA and 131 K’s in 114 innings. Crazy stuff.
5. I shouldn’t diminish the curveball… it’s very, VERY good. Arguably the best in the country when you consider swings and misses right now. (He leaves one up for a HR in the video above at the 1:15 mark btw.) He just can’t rely on it to get ahead or get easy strikes out 1-0, 2-1, etc. Most of the pre-draft coverage on Lange has revolved around his fastball command which is just kind of strange to me because almost entirely 100% it’s the other way around.
6. Something’s off on the delivery… it’s quick, compact, efficient. He’s got a really fast arm, which means how quickly he gets his arm into throwing position. Usually a good tell on athleticism and fast twitch like Marcus Stroman, Sonny Gray, etc. I think my complaint is that it’s too quick. Like he’s in too much of a rush to throw, which is probably why his fastball command lacks.
7. Going back to the bomb he gives up in the video at 1:15 above, you can tell he slows down big time on his curveball in that sequence. Compare his previous pitch (fastball) to the belt high curveball that gets crushed to center.
8. Minor stuff, but maintaining the same kind of arm speed/tempo is critical to repeating your delivery, which is critical to throwing good pitches, which is blah blah blah. It’s not rocket science.
9. Lange is a starter. You don’t turn a guy like him into a reliever. He’s thrown 337 innings over 51 starts in 3 years for one of the best programs in NCAA history. His endurance, makeup and mind for the game are highly regarded, and the fact that he comfortably sits 91-94 with a legit uncle charlie doesn’t hurt either.