Brailyn Marquez's Talent and Future With the Cubs

Brailyn Marquez has seen plenty of challenges in his pitching career with the Cubs. He made his brief MLB debut in 2020 against the White Sox, where he got his first MLB strikeout, but did not pitch in 2020 otherwise due to the canceled minor league season, and in 2021 due to covid and injuries.

He was originally considered one of the Cubs' top prospects, if not no.1, but due to lack of pitching time and Brennen Davis and others quickly becoming more recognized, he no longer holds that No.1 top prospect ranking. That's not to say that he can still be good and back on the top prospects list this coming season, but it's not as much of a guarantee.

With his shoulder injury being a definite concern, Hoyer and others seem to think Marquez's starting roles may be over. Formerly, he was considered to be the future ace of the Cubs' rotation, but at this point, it's hard to see that happening.

Getting back to the everyday pitching role this year will definitely be a challenge, but Hoyer seems confident that Marquez will be able to help the Cubs' pitching staff in 2022. He has mentioned that he wants to use him as a "pitching weapon", and with his upper 90s-100 MPH fastball speed, that will definitely be a help to the Cubs' bullpen.

He will probably get some time with Triple-A before moving to the Cubs' bullpen full-time, and especially so with the MiLB Opening Day likely starting before the MLB Opening Day due to some lockout going on...

At this point, Marquez's future is uncertain, but if the power, strikeouts, and success come together in 2022, he can be considered a vital part of the Cubs' future, be it in the bullpen or eventual starting role.

Take a minute to watch this short video on Marquez's 2019 strikeouts:

And his MLB debut:

Comments

Reliving the Cubs' 2016 Postseason Highlights

As we enter the final stretch for baseball in 2021- a Braves/Astros World Series, it's a good time to look back at memorable Cubs' history in 2016, when the Cubs broke a 108 year WS win drought to beat the Indians in the World Series. The Cubs cruised to a 103-58 standing at the end of the season, getting the NL Central pennant and meaning they'd face the winner of the Wild Card, who ended up being the Giants. Game One of the NLDS Jon Lester threw 8 shut-out innings, Chapman closed the 9th with a shut-out against the Giants and Javier Baez solo-homered in the 8th to give the Cubs a 1-0 win against the Giants and get the 1-0 series lead. Game Two of the NLDS Kyle Hendricks started the game, only allowing 2 runs, and he drove in 2 runs himself in the 2nd with a single, but he left the game in the 3rd due to a line-drive injury. Reliever Travis Wood replaced Hendricks, and hit a home run, yes a home run in the 4th to give the Cubs a 5-2 lead. That was the first homer to be hi...

Saturday Cubs News: CBA Negotiations, More Contreras and Correa Rumors, Would Baez Return, and Other News

Braves shut out the Astros last night, including no-hitting them into the 7th inning, which gives them the 2-1 series lead, so that's good news to me. Let's start out by a few MLB news tidbits. The Padres hired Bob Melvin, who was the current Athletics manager, to be their new manager. Although a pretty abrupt move out of nowhere, Melvin is a manager with lots of experience who has managed a team that has been making the playoffs the last few years, and maybe will help guide the Padres in that direction. The PETA wants to rename "bullpen" to "arm barn" saying that the former is offensive to cows. I won't say too much on this so I don't lose my temper, but THE COWS DON'T EVEN WATCH MLB! One of the most ridiculous things I've heard in baseball for a while now... Albert Pujols, one of the more ancient specimens in baseball right now, is going to be playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, and said that he wasn't ready to retire yet. ...

Evaluating Ian Happ's 2021 Season

Ian Happ had the Cubs' front office's trust going into the 2021 season, gaining an Opening Day lead-off spot, and the hopes that he would be a reliable, everyday lead-off hitter getting good results like he did in 2020. But, that was not the case, especially in the first half of the season, batting a deplorable .183/.296/.330 with only 42 hits and 9 homeruns in 230 AB. That was not the results the Cubs were hoping to get from the player that was their best in 2020. In the second half of the season, however, Happ started warming up. (Just a little late perhaps?) He batted . 268/.350/.536 with 63 hits and 16 homeruns in 235 AB, a remarkable change from the bad results he was having the first half. In September/October alone, Happ batted .317/.405/.615 with a 1.020 OPS in 104 AB. That is more like the Happ the Cubs were expecting him to be like, only even a little better! If you viewed those results only, you would consider Happ to be one of your best players, which indeed he ...

Cubbies Gazette

Search This Blog