What a Time for the Kubitza Family

Here's a fun trivia question for you baseball fans out there: what brothers have the most career home runs in the Major Leagues? When I was asked this question at the Hall of Fame last summer, my first guesses included the Boone brothers, heck maybe the Molinas with three of them? Maybe The LaRoches? 

The Aarons. Hank's brother Tommie played 7 seasons with the Braves and hit 13 career home runs, which gives them a grand total of 768 home runs, the most of any pair/set of brothers to play professional baseball in America. 

I found that fun intro both factual and transitional into the topic of today's post, about the Texas native Kubitza brothers, Kyle and Austin.

Both Kubitzas went to Colleyville Heritage High School, which is where current MLB pitcher James Russell attended. Just over a year apart, older brother and third baseman/outfielder Kyle attended Texas State University in San Marcos and was drafted in the 3rd round overall by the Braves. Austin, a crafty yet powerful right-handed pitcher, was drafted out of high school but chose to play college ball for the legendary coach Wayne Graham at Rice University in Texas. He was then drafted by the Tigers in the 4th round of the 2013 draft and I had the pleasure of watching him pitch for the Whitecaps this season. 

They've never faced each other, though. Not when they were in college, travel ball, even little league, Austin told MLive reporter Lenny Padilla. He's waiting for when they both make it to the Majors for that opportunity. 

But anyway, the title of my post implies that they're not just a pair of brothers trying to make it to the show. They are incredibly talented, as you could have guessed from Kyle's high draft position and Austin's high draft position both times (7th round out of high school). Kyle, a lefty hitter who posted an absurd .405 OBP last season, stands at 6'3", 215 and his younger brother (not little brother) is 6'5", 225 pounds. That's an intimidating size for both guys.

Imagine a David Freese sized guy but from the other side of the plate and hitting for a better average. Many scouting reports will say that he lacks power to be an effective third basemen in the Braves lineup, but if you're Fredi Gonzalez, how can you refuse a .295 batting average and a .405 on-base from a lefty? He's only gotten better from joining the minors; after a stunning .321 average in rookie ball in 2011, his average plummeted almost 100 points to .239 in 2012, but after many long hours in the cage, raised it to .260 in 2013 and then to .295 in 2014. The hard work paid off for Kyle, as he was named to the Braves' 40-man roster yesterday. Chris Johnson is the current Braves' third basemen and with the trade that sent right fielder Jason Heyward to St. Louis, there is an opening in the corner pasture. I don't think Kubitza will be the starting right fielder in 2015 but I think he could perhaps get a September call-up. With his naming to the 40-man, he will almost certainly start 2015 for AAA Gwinnett and then see how he hits there; it will be the best pitching he'll have seen to date. 

Here is the link for his prospect watch page courtesy of MLB Pipeline. He is the Braves' 12th ranked prospect, and, as you see on the page, is predicted to make his debut in 2015. Scouts gave him a 50 power (out of 80 as a ceiling) and a 60 arm, which will bode well if the Braves give him a chance as their right fielder or third baseman of the future, as both positions require the ability to sling the ball long distances. Working in his favor are the prospects in front of him, which may sound backwards, but of the 11 other prospects in front of him according to Pipeline, there is only one outfielder and one middle infielder, the rest are pitchers or catchers. Seeing as the Braves management would rather grow their talent rather than buy it, I think he has a good shot to not only get a shot but seize it and becoming a starter. Being selected to the 40-man is a good start. 

Austin saw similar success for Low A West Michigan in 2014. He is ranked the #5 prospect for what is a very weak Tigers farm system (seeing as they traded away their #1 to the Blue Jays last week), but don't let that convince you that Kubitza is not major league material. His 2014 stats were nothing short of dominant, going 10-2 with a 2.34 ERA, a 1.076 WHIP (get this: 3.25 K/BB ratio - wow), and 140 K's which was 4th in the Midwest League. Kubitza was an All-Star representative for the Whitecaps (one of their 4 starting pitchers to be named to the roster) and will likely start the 2015 season at AA Erie for the Tigers. 

I may have been an employee when I saw him pitch, but I couldn't help but sneak a peek to watch him practice his craft. He had a great combination of power fastballs and a sharp slider to go with a changeup that dropped off the table to make hitters swing and miss. His scouting ceiling may only be a 45 currently, but going 10-2 with a 2.34 ERA and finishing 4th in the league in strikeouts might make some people change their mind. 

Like the title said, what a time for the Kubitza family. They have two sons on the verge of reaching the biggest stage for baseball players and here I am refusing to turn the heat on in my house because I want to save the extra money. 

Where did I go wrong?

Thanks for reading. 

2018 World Series Champs

It's kind of weird to think that we're four years away, but the 2018 World Series is already locked up. 

Yesterday on my lunch break I caught a glimpse of MLB Network's Top 50 Prospects and there was name that kept coming up: Cubs. 

Under new management of Rick Renteria, the Cubs are having a less-than-stellar year, sitting in last place of the NL Central at 48-64. Don't get it twisted, though: just because the Cubs are in last place does not mean they are a bad team at all. The NL Central is easily the toughest division in baseball; they sent three teams to the playoffs last year and the top 4 are separated by 4.5 games. Realistically, it is anyone's division; with Yadier Molina out, it has been tough for the Cardinals to make up ground. Same goes for the Steel City - with 2013 MVP Andrew McCutchen sidelined with a broken rib (ouch) for a few weeks, things might plateau for a bit in the midwest. 

I'm obviously joking when I say that the 2018 World Series belongs to the Cubs, but if the future ends being as bright as it is supposed to be, then they will be heavy favorites. 

Regardless of the current standings, General Manager extraordinaire Theo Epstein has made some moves this year to bolster the younger Cubs. According to ESPN, the Cubs are the 6th-youngest team in the MLB this year with an average age 26.6 years young (they are also the 3rd lightest at 203 avg. lbs, fun fact), and in the next few years that will probably drop. Before I get an existential crisis about being older than some of their stars, let's see if I can pound out what the Cubs have to look forward to. 

Of the MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospects, the Cubs have boast 8 prospects. 8 out of 100 isn't bad, but they have 3 in the top 10 (Kris Bryant, 3B; Javy Baez, 2B/SS; Addison Russell, SS). My Tigers don't have a single player in the top 100, just to give you a reference. The Cubs are no stranger to having highly touted prospects, either. Starlin Castro, the slugging shortstop was ranked the 16th best prospect by Baseball America before 2010, his rookie year (oh, he also skipped AAA). On the other side of the diamond, Anthony Rizzo was the #47 prospect by Baseball America and #37 by MLB.com (the source I used above). Both were All-Stars this year and are having solid years; Rizzo is 2nd in the NL in homers and Castro is in the top 20 in the MLB in hits. No impressed yet? Castro is 24 and Rizzo turns 25 tomorrow. 

Some of the future has already started to come in to play, now its just waiting for the rest to catch up. With Emilio Bonifacio sent to the Braves, the every day second base position has been something of a revolving door, so both Arismendy Alcantara (#36) and Javier Baez (#5) have made their Major League debuts this summer at that position. Alcantara is essentially a recreated Jose Reyes, a short quick bat and blazing speed down the line. Alcantara won't hit for much power but he puts the ball in play and will make it an average ground ball a panicky play for any infielder. Baez made his debut on Tuesday in Colorado, hitting the game winning home run for his first big league hit in the 12th inning. He also went 3-4 with 2 more dingers today. Yikes. 

So a few have been playing for a few years, a few have debuted this year, and a few more will come in the coming years. I suspect that we'll see a few of these studs, namely Bryant and outfielder Alberto Almora, as the year begins to dwindle into October. But here's what the Cubs have to look forward to in a few years when all their prospects are no longer prospects but bonafide every day big league mashers:

1st base: Rizzo
2nd base: Baez (who had more RBI's today by himself than the Tigers did the last two games)
Shortstop: Castro, or Addison Russell if Castro is traded. Russell was acquired from the A's before the All-Star break for Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija, and is still a top 10 prospect by nearly every major prospect source. 
3rd base: Bryant (he is who I am most excited to see)
Outfield: Jorge Soler (#53 prospect), Alberto Almora (#40), and Alcantara (he has been playing some centerfield already given the log jam of greatness at the middle infield)
Catcher: Kyle Schwarber (#78 prospect, 4th overall pick in the 2014 draft) 

But wait, where's the pitching? Oh, sorry. I forgot CJ Edwards, the flamethrowing righty who has a career 2.43 ERA in the minors so far. Drafted in the 48th round in 2011, this guy must have some serious talent to jump all the way to the top 100 prospects (#59 to be exact) in 3 years. 

Now. Don't think of me as Debbie Downer here, more like Realistic Rick: some prospects won't pan out - ever seen Moneyball? Billy Beane, now hailed as a genius of a GM and creator of a dynasty out in Oakland, was a 1st round pick and hit a career .219 in 6 seasons in the bigs. Sure, they have all been killing minor league pitching, but for that exact reason: it's minor league pitching. Kris Bryant can hit 30 home runs a year anywhere, but it might be a little different when he has to face Adam Wainwright and Johnny Cueto every other week. But, given the depth and strength of the Cubs farm system, if one doesn't pan out, there is another prospect eagerly awaiting for his own shot. 

All of the guys I listed above are projected to debut by 2016 (Schwarber being the latest). One may win Rookie of the Year, but I think it will take a few years for them to mesh and to adjust to Major League pitching before they are really a dominant offensive force. I'll be honest, I haven't really done a lot of research on team prospects before I began working at a minor league stadium, but regardless of my own research, the fact that Cubs can almost field an entire team with Top 100 prospects is impressive and I don't think that happens very often. Old McDonald has quite the farm. 

The 2018 World Series is not a lock. But for the Cubs who have waited so patiently for their next World Series title, I think it could be the year. They certainly will be young, free swingers, but after they all have a few years under their respective belts, I think they could really turn some heads and bring some glory back to the Friendly Confines.