The curse is finally over and the Chicago Cubs are the defending World Series champions for the first time in more than a century. After spending the winter as the reigning champions the focus will now shift to the future and that means evaluating the top prospects in baseball that appear set to represent as the next generation of superstars at the highest level. Here is a look at one untouchable prospect from each NL Central team.
SP: Dylan Cease, Chicago Cubs
The Cubs World Series run was the result of an elite class of prospects graduating to All-Stars last season with Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez absolutely dominating at the highest level. The best part is that while Chicago celebrates its World Series championship there is a strong class of prospects with extremely high upside preparing for their turn in the spotlight. Pitcher Oscar De La Cruz and outfielder Eloy Jimenez are among the top prospects but perhaps the one untouchable is starting pitcher Dylan Cease. Cease would have likely been a first round pick in 2014 if it wasn’t for needing Tommy John surgery that led to him slipping to the sixth round. Cease flashed his immense potential when he returned from injury with a 2.22 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with 66 K’s in 44.2 innings pitches last season to give Cubs fans even more to get excited about with their team’s future.
C: Carson Kelly, St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis has been keen on drafting and developing its own talent over the years and that will be the case again with their future All-Star catcher in Kelly. While he isn’t ready just yet Kelly is an excellent defensive catcher that needs to improve his overall hitting numbers in order to make the jump. Kelly flashed his ability at the plate with a breakout season in Double-A last year so the Cardinals have to feel comfortable that he could be the successor to Molina in the near future.
SP: Tyler Glasnow, Pittsburgh Pirates
Glasnow flashed his elite ability with the Pirates last season when he made seven starts. Glasnow struggled early on but he wrapped up the season with a memorable five innings of work against the St. Louis Cardinals in which he gave up just one hit while striking out four. Glasnow has compiled an elite resume in the minors and while he will likely start this upcoming season in AAA it shouldn’t be long before the 23-year-old left-hander gets another call up to the majors.
OF: Lewis Brinson, Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee doesn’t have many high quality prospects in the minors but they do have an intriguing young outfielder in the 22-year-old Brinson. Brinson could make his way to the majors on a full-time basis as soon as this year along with a couple of other top prospects in Josh Hader and Brett Phillips while Orlando Arcia has already earned a role with the big club.
The Brewers finished the year 18th in terms of OPS with a .729 team average.
3B: Nick Senzel, Cincinnati Reds
The Reds have a potential beauty in No. 1 prospect Nick Senzel and there is no reason to think they would even entertain moving him. Senzel has all of the tools to be a complete third basemen and he is ranked slightly ahead of pitchers Amir Garrett and Robert Stephenson as the best players in Cincinnati’s system. Senzel will spend at least the next year in the minors building up his experience and working on his overall game before potentially making the leap to the majors in the next two or three seasons.
The Reds need all sorts of help in their lineup as they were an average hitting team last season. They finished 23rd in terms of OPS, which simply isn’t good enough – especially in the division that they’re in. The Chicago Cubs are the defending World Series champions while the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals are Wild Card contenders. The Reds are rebuilding and need help in their lineup, so look for them to employ a youth movement, which includes Senzel.
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