Where Are They Now? 2011 Pro Debut Part 6

Last year I began a new series of posts giving an update on Cubs prospects that appeared in Pro Debut during its inaugural 2010 season. Three years seemed like a pretty good amount of time to follow up. With the release of the 2014 set, I restarted the series a few Sundays ago with players from 2011.

Previous entries can be seen here:

Part 1 (Hak-Ju Lee and Brandon Guyer) can be seen here.

Part 2 (Reggie Golden and Hunter Ackerman) can be seen here.
Part 3 (Aaron Kurcz and Austin Reed) can be seen here.
Part 4 (Elliot Soto and D.J. LeMahieu) can be seen here.
Part 5 (Dustin Geiger and Dallas Beeler) can be seen here.

Nicholas Struck was drafted by the Cubs in the 39th round of the 2009 draft. In 2010, he played for both the Single A Peoria Chiefs (the team pictured on the card) and had a brief stint with the High A Daytona Cubs.

A hot start in Daytona in 2011 led to two more level changes, first to Double A with the Tennessee Smokies and then up to the Triple A Iowa Cubs. Struck spent the entire 2012 season in Tennessee with a 14-10 record and a 3.18 ERA and was the Cub Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

He started 2013 in Iowa but after going 6-8 with a 6.17 ERA, he finished the year back in Tennessee. Struck was released by the Cubs at the end of Spring Training this year but just a few days later was signed the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. So far this season, he has spent most of the time with their Double A affiliate, the Chattanooga Lookouts compiling a 1-5 record with a 7.29 ERA. He also spent two games with the Triple Albuquerque Isotopes.

Brett Jackson was another player who was in the inaugural 2010 Topps Pro Debut set. You can read my original write up here.

At the end of that post, I speculated Jackson would get a late season call up for 2013. Alas, he did not and the Cubs set a new roster size record regardless. Also as mentioned, he did split the 2013 season between Double and Triple A and rehabbed his injury.

This season, Jackson has spent the entire time in Iowa. In 67 games, he is batting .213 with 5 home runs and 18 RBIs. Not exactly September call up numbers if you ask me, especially with what else the Cubs have waiting in the wings.

Where Are They Now? 2011 Pro Debut Part 4

Last year I began a new series of posts giving an update on Cubs prospects that appeared in Pro Debut during its inaugural 2010 season. Three years seemed like a pretty good amount of time to follow up. With the release of the 2014 set, I restarted the series a few Sundays ago with players from 2011.

Previous entries can be seen here:

Part 1 (Hak-Ju Lee and Brandon Guyer) can be seen here.

Part 2 (Reggie Golden and Hunter Ackerman) can be seen here.
Part 3 (Aaron Kurcz and Austin Reed) can be seen here.

2011 Topps Pro Debut #216 Elliot Soto

Elliot Soto was drafted out of high school in the 13th round of the 2007 draft by the Minnesota Twins. He passed and ended up going to college at Creighton University and re-entered the draft in 2010 where the Cubs drafted him in the 15th round.

He made his "pro debut" later that year which is why he gets the foil stamp in the upper right corner of his card. Each year since, he has played for multiple teams but he hasn't been able to make it past Double A yet. 

After last season, it was announced that Soto would begin this season suspended for a second violation of the minor league drug program. As of this writing, he's gotten into 33 games with the Tennessee Smokies (mostly at shortstop) but that is where I've heard Addison Russell from the Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel trade will end up. With a logjam of middle infield prospects the Cubs are collecting, Soto will likely be squeezed out somewhere. 

2011 Topps Pro Debut #246 DJ LeMahieu

D.J. LeMahieu was a part of the 2010 Pro Debut set and you can see my quick write up on his career up through last year here. Since being recalled from Triple A in May 2013, LeMahieu has been the everyday second baseman for the Rockies. He finished last season playing in a career high 109 games, and is on pace to surpass that this year.

Funny enough, LeMahieu is shown on this card with the Daytona Cubs, the Chicago Cubs high Single A affiliate where he spent the entire 2010 season. By the time this set was released though, LeMahieu had playedin Double A (Tennessee Smokies), Triple A (Iowa Cubs) and made his Major League debut on May 30, 2011. I wouldn't swear by it, but he may have been the first one from this set to make his MLB debut.

He even showed up in the flagship Update Series.

2011 Topps #US205 D.J. LeMahieu

Where Are They Now? 2011 Pro Debut Part 3

Last year I began a new series of posts giving an update on Cubs prospects that appeared in Pro Debut during its inaugural 2010 season. Three years seemed like a pretty good amount of time to follow up. With the release of the 2014 set, I restarted the series two Sundays ago with players from 2011.

So far, none of the first four are even still with the Cubs franchise let alone progressing to play at Wrigley Field. Those previous entries can be seen here:

Part 1 (Hak-Ju Lee and Brandon Guyer) can be seen here.

Part 2 (Reggie Golden and Hunter Ackerman) can be seen here.

2011 Topps Pro Debut #304 Aaron Kurcz

The Cubs drafted Aaron Kurcz out of the College of Southern Nevada in the 11^th Round of the 2010 draft. He was a decent reliever prior to the Daytona Cubs moving him into the rotation, but with that conversion, he made the Florida State League mid-season All-star team in 2011.

However, Kurcz fits the same bill as the first four in that he is no longer with the Cubs. What sets him apart though is that he was traded…for Theo Epstein. Kind of. He was a “player to be named later” after it was determined the Cubs needed to further compensate the Red Sox for the hire.

Kurcz spent the 2012 season with the Red Sox’s Double A affiliate the Portland Sea Dogs where he returned to the bullpen. He lost the second half of the season and all of 2013 to Tommy John surgery. He’s bounced back this season, finishing out 12 games (in 17 appearances) for the Sea Dogs.

2011 Topps Pro Debut #306 Austin Reed

Once I sifted through Austin Reed, the British clothing company and Austin Reed, the fictional character from Days of Our Lives, I finally got to Austin Reed, Addison’s little brother the Cubs 12^th round 2010 draft selection. Yes, he is White Sox closer, Addison Reed’s little brother and they were drafted on the same day, into the same city, nine rounds apart.

Austin is still with the Cubs and has progressed each season, advancing to a new level but hasn't managed to catch up to his brother yet. Addison is three years older so it’s a little understandable. It would be fun to see these brothers duel it out in a crosstown interleague game in the near future.

It probably doesn't help that his current team the Daytona Cubs has a record about as good as their Major League counterpart. All of those highly touted Cubs prospects are bunching up in Double A and Triple A.

Where Are They Now? 2011 Pro Debut Part 2

Last season when 2013 Topps Pro Debut came out, I decided to take a retrospective look at the Cubs prospects from the inaugural 2010 set and what they had done since. I got eight posts out of the sixteen card set and thought I'd do it again this year. Now that the 2014 set has been released, let's take a look at the Cubs prospects from 2011. This will be an ongoing series again for the next couple of Sundays.

Part 1 (Hak-Ju Lee and Brandon Guyer) can be seen here.

The Cubs drafted Reggie Golden in the second round of the 2010 amateur draft and joined their Arizona League team later that year. His card above has the foil stamp in the upper right corner that designates this as an actual "pro debut" card.

In 2011, Golden played in 64 games for the low A Boise Hawks, batting .249 with 7 home runs and 39 RBIs. He missed most of 2012 with a knee injury, playing just 7 games in Peoria all year. In 2013, the Cubs had switched Single A affiliates from the Peoria Chiefs to the Kane County Cougars. Despite the same amount of games as 2011 and two more at bats, Golden's number when down in categories they should have up and up where they should have gone down.

The Cubs released him towards the end of Spring Training this year.

Hunter Ackerman was also drafted in 2010 but in the 4th round. Unfortunately for Ackerman and the Cubs, his career path didn't get any better than Golden's. He spent '10, '11 and '12 in the Arizona League. He did make a couple of appearances for the Boise Hawks in 2012 as well but was released in mid-2013.

In April of this year, Ackerman signed with the Schaumberg Boomers of the independent Frontier League.