Dark-Horse Candidates To Make Cubs Opening Day Roster
The Chicago Cubs have announced their list of non-roster invites to spring training that included 15 players.
That list includes pitchers, Jesse Chavez, Jonathan Holder, Ben Leeper, Mark Leiter Jr., Cayne Ueckert, Eric Yardley, Connor Menez, Locke. St John, Stephen Gonsalves,
Hitters are, John Hicks, P.J Higgins, Dixon Machado, Chase Strumpf, Andy Weber, Ildemaro Vargas.
And yes, top prospect Brennen Davis.
Here’s the Cubs’ current non-roster invite list. Expect it to keep growing. RHP Jesse Chavez will be in this group once his deal is official. pic.twitter.com/6xNj74Ixeb
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 13, 2022
Which Non-Roster Invite Has A Shot At Making The Opening Day Roster?
Connor Menez would be one player that could potentially make the Cubs opening day roster out of Spring training.
The Cubs need lefty pitchers in the bullpen, and if they don’t end up signing anyone, Menez could be it.
Menez was selected in the first round of the Rule 5 2021 draft by the Cubs.
He pitched in 42.2 innings for San Fransico Giants AAA team in 26 games, with a 6.75 ERA, his K% was 24.2, BB% 4.8, and had a K-BB% of 19.4%.
Menez was called up by the Giants, though it was a small sample size, he still ended up pitching in 8 games, 14 innings, and his K% shot up to 24.2, while his BBB% dropped to 4.8%.
With the acquisition of Jesse Chavez, the bullpen would gain another righty.
Manuel Rodriguez, Michael Rucker, Rowan Wick, Adbert Alzolay, Cory Abbott, Keegan Thompson, and Scott Effross, are amongst the other righties in the Cubs bullpen.
Chavez did pitch in 30 games last year for the Atlanta Braves, in 33 innings, he held a 2.14 ERA, K% of 27.1, a BB% of 8.3, and K-BB% of 18.8.
And another interesting name that could make the Cubs’ opening day roster in the bullpen is, Ben Leeper.
The Cubs signed Leeper as an undrafted free agent after the 2020 MLB draft. He pitched 14.1 innings in Double-A with a 1.26 ERA, 37.3 K%, 6.8 BB%, and his K-BB% was 30.5%.
In Triple-A his numbers are 20.2 innings pitched in 17 games with a 1.31 ERA, 40.3 K%, 11.7 BB%, and K-BB% 28.6.
Does Top Prospect Brennen Davis Have A Legitimate Shot At Making The Opening Day Roster?
The current outfield for the Chicago Cubs is, Rafael Ortega, Jason Heyward, Ian Happ, and Harold Ramirez.
Just three years, Brennen Davis went from playing in High A in 2021 to end the year in Triple-A.
In high A, Davis slashed .321/.406/.607/1.013 and his wRC+ was 172, in Double-A he slashed .252/.367/.474/.841 and his wRC+ went down to 135. He bounced back for the Triple-A club and slashed .268/.397/.536/.933 and his wRC+ went back up to 150.
In 2021, Davis was No.14 on the top-100 prospects list,
This year’s list isn’t out yet, but he’ll be in the top 20 if not the top 10.
Although Davis is a stud the expectation is that he’ll still begin this season at Triple-A with the Iowa Cubs and if he continues to shine in the minors then he could be called up by June.