Eloy Jimenez, Chesny Young Among 7 Cubs Roster Cuts

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Eloy Jimenez is the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect (according to many prospect lists including our own BCB ranking by Josh), but it’s clear he needs more time in the minor leagues.

So it’s no surprise that Eloy, along with six others, was reassigned to the minor-league camp by the Cubs on Friday. Jimenez went 9-for-28 (.321) with two home runs in big-league spring games. He’ll likely spend this year at Double-A Tennessee.

Also reassigned was Chesny Young, who impressed with his hitting in camp (9-for-30, one home run), as well as playing good defense at three positions (shortstop, second base and third base). Young played at Tennessee last year and could be promoted to Triple-A.

Outfielder Mark Zagunis was also assigned to minor-league camp. Zagunis split last year between Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa.

Victor Caratini, Jacob Hannemann, Pierce Johnson and Felix Pena were all optioned to Iowa. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Pena in the Cubs’ bullpen at some point this year (as he was last year), and Johnson is also likely being converted to relief. Caratini and Hannemann could get September callups.

Here’s where these seven players rank in MLB Pipeline’s Cubs prospect list:

The cuts leave 43 players in camp, broken down as follows: 22 pitchers (four non-roster invitees), five catchers (two non-roster invitees), 11 infielders (four non-roster invitees) and five outfielders (one non-roster invitee).