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I'm confident some of you think these go off without a hitch. (Laugh reminiscent of the radio show, "The Shadow") That isn't necessarily the case. In my first Zygote 50 article, I checked all the stat pages back to Mesa, yet somehow missed Trey Martin. I checked the trades from last season, but forgot Hector Rondon, the Rule 5 pick-up. What's worse, when I had everything typed out and triple-checked, I sent my commentary to Al. His response?
You left out the No. 7 Hitter.
Yikes.
*****
When the Cubs grabbed Rondon in December, they acquired a hard-throwing 6-3 right-handed pitcher who turns 25 in February. This afternoon, I'm going to walk you through where I put him, but before I serve up his position, I offer you four names. Billy Wagner, Troy Percival, Randy Myers, and John Wetteland.
With Rondon, there are two ways I can phrase the question for myself. Do I think there is a reasonable chance Rondon can reach the starter limit of 1000 innings? I'm very steadfast on that number. Regardless the hurler, regardless the results, 1000 innings pitched is an impressive career. A pitcher can contribute over a shorter stretch, but if they survive that long, they were certainly productive enough to have avoided being a whiff as a prospect. The four above pitchers are among the top 11 in MLB history for saves. None of them pitched 1000 innings.
Since I'm very inclusive regarding prospects, I don't want to disregard reliever types. Whether Tony Zych, Kyuji Fujikawa, or guys in A Ball, I want my list to apply to all players, not just starting pitchers to the exclusion of relievers. The bullpen is very important now. There's no valid reason in slighting relievers.
The other question I could ask is as follows. If I would include Rondon, who would I replace?
Let's assume I decide he will be a reliever only-type. Where would I put him then? He will get innings this season, if he sticks, toward his 300. Since whether, not when, is the issue, that is a boon to his chances. A kid who gets the call in a pennant race in 2015 will have to produce right away. Rondon can't be directly farmed out, so he has to be 'give up on him' bad to get run through waivers. That's some rope, if you throw in the high nineties.
I would put him a bit above Frank Batista, probably. However, with his velocity, I consider him a possible cross between Kyle Farnsworth (921 innings pitched and still rolling) and Julian Tavarez, (1400 innings pitched), both ex-Cubs. I will slot him in my inaugural ist at 15S. With the dominoes falling from that, Dae-Eun Rhee is dropped from the starters portion, and fills in at 8R. Alberto Cabrera wasn't listed on the initial list, and makes Pitching Honorable Mention, (Five pitchers and hitters will be listed alphabetically in HM,)
As was mentioned, I omitted Trey Martin. In the adjusted listing, Martin sneaks in at No. 20. Below is what will be considered the First Listing of the Zygote 50. Once the season starts, I plan a piece every weekend discussing updates, along with a separate posting on draft updates. I'm not competing with Josh. I'll focus more on team stats and trends, and how they relate to the Zygote 50. Recommendations below are welcomed, but I reserve the right to not pursue every idea. I plan on posting basic offensive and pitching stats weekly (walks/strikeouts/runs) compared to league levels.
With no further ado, the updated Cubs Zygote 50. (H designates Hitter, S is for Starter, R for reliever, HM is Honorable Mention in each category):
Hitters
1H Javier Baez
2H Jorge Soler
3H Albert Almora
4H Logan Watkins
5H Christian Villanueva
6H Dan Vogelbach
7H Jeimer Candelario
8H Ronald Torreyes
9H Matthew Szczur
10H Arismendy Alcantara
11H Stephen Bruno
12H Wilson Contreras
13H Gioskar Amaya
14H Marco Hernandez
15H Junior Lake
16H Jae-Hoon Ha
17H Dustin Geiger
18H Reggie Golden
19H Zeke DeVoss
20H Trey Martin
HM: John Andreoli, Shawon Dunston, Rafael Lopez, Tim Saunders, Rubi Silva
Starters
1S Arodys Vizcaino
2S Pierce Johnson
3S Barret Loux
4S Robert Whitenack
5S Kyle Hendricks
6S Michael Jensen
7S Jose Paniagua
8S Nick Struck
9S Tayler Scott
10S Eric Jokisch
11S Josh Conway
12S Jose Arias
13S Chris Rusin
14S Dillon Maples
15S Hector Rondon
16S Jose Rosario
17S Duane Underwood
18S Paul Blackburn
19S Dallas Beeler
20S Ryan McNeil
Relievers
1R Tony Zych
2R Kyuji Fujikawa
3R Jaye Chapman
4R Trey McNutt
5R Frank Batista
6R Yao-Lin Wang
7R Lendy Castillo
8R Dae-Eun Rhee
9R Austin Kirk
10R Ben Wells
HMP Alberto Cabrera, Marcelo Carreno, Frank del Valle, P.J. Francescon, Andrew McKirahan