Cubs Zygote 50: Hector Rondon Edition

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.

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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