Billy McKinney has barely been a professional baseball player for two years, but that’s nothing. He’s barely been out of high school that long. The Chicago Cubs acquired McKinney as part of the Jeff Smadzija and Jason Hammel trade last year and the young outfielder has already made his way to the Double-A level with the Tennessee Smokies even though he’s still two months away from being legally able to buy a beer. There’s a fast track, then there’s what McKinney is on.
Now on http://t.co/h5NSY7VuJN: #Cubs No. 7 prospect @billy_mckinney rips a two-run triple for @smokiesbaseball. http://t.co/finQXjhPcz
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 30, 2015
“It isn’t your age,” Smokies manager Buddy Bailey said. “When you show the people who make the decisions that you’re mastering a league, when you do enough things right, when you look like a professional hitter, it doesn’t matter how old you are. There are people that just excel earlier than others. There are guys that go to the big leagues at 20-21 years old and are impact players right away.”
McKinney has shown the Cubs plenty since they acquired him last year. The kid from Dallas, Texas spent 51 games in High-A with the Cubs last year and hit .301 with a home run, four triples, 12 doubles and 36 RBIs. Those numbers are what helped McKinney open the season as the No. 6-ranked minor league prospect in the Cubs’ farm system.
“It’s such a big market team,” McKinney said. “Chicago is an awesome city. I’m looking forward to seeing where my career goes. I’m hanging in there. I try to keep a level head and not let it speed up on me. I’m going to try to maintain the same level, regardless of how I’m doing.”
@girl_iowagirl20 smokies Billy McKinney is only 4 months older then me.
— Brady Cox (@DisneyDude_71) May 19, 2015
So how is he doing? Pretty great, actually. His High-A stint lasted just 29 games this season and after compiling a .340 batting average with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, McKinney was headed to Tennessee. McKinney’s life has been filled with impromptu moves over the last year. A first-round pick by the Oakland Athletics out of Plano West Senior High School in Plano, Texas in 2013, McKinney had reason to believe he was in the A’s long-term plans. But the A’s needed pitching and shipped McKinney, Addison Russell and Dan Straily to Chicago. It was quite the haul and though Straily has moved on as a free agent so has the big-time pitcher the Cubs traded to land the two hot young prospects. Smardzija signed with the Chicago White Sox this last offseason so the Cubs basically picked up McKinney and Russell for nothing, plus they got some cash in the deal. Cubs president Theo Epstein should have bronzed the cell phone he used to close that deal.
“It was surprising, that’s for sure,” McKinney said. “I was glad to come over here with Dan Straily and Addison too. I knew how great an organization this was so I was excited for the challenge.”
Whirlwind day for 20-year-old #Cubs prospect Billy McKinney culminated with 2 doubles in his @smokiesbaseball debut. http://t.co/tdn8wvdIty
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 15, 2015
McKinney’s numbers aren’t the astronomical set he had in Myrtle Beach, but they’re still good in Tennessee. In 15 games coming into Saturday night he’s hitting .280 with one triple, five doubles and four RBIs.
“He (McKinney) doesn’t chase a lot of pitches,” Bailey said. “He’s a guy that has a pretty good strike zone knowledge. He has command of it and doesn’t swing a lot of pitches and that gives him a better chance. He’s disciplined and tries to work the count. He’s a young man and that’s one of the most difficult things to get guys to do.”
Player moves
The Cubs have shuffled players up and down the last two weeks, with the biggest news being the promotion of No. 5-ranked prospect C.J. Edwards to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs on Friday. Edwards was replaced on the Smokies roster by right-hander Michael Wagner and then on Saturday the Cubs brought up Tayler Scott to Double-A, sending Fernando Cruz to Myrtle Beach. Some of the Smokies’ best offensive weapons have been dealing with some injuries too. Dan Vogelbach, Stephen Bruno and Bijan Rademacher have all spent time on the disabled list since May 23.
