Where Are They Now? 2011 Pro Debut Part 1

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.

Numerically, the first two guys in the Cubs set were Hak-Ju Lee and Brandon Guyer. In January 2011, both of these guys were involved in an 8-player trade with the Tampa Bay Rays.

2011 Topps Pro Debut #65 Hak-Ju Lee

Hak-Ju Lee's 2010 card showed him with the Boise Hawks (low A) but he got bumped up to the Peoria Chiefs (middle/regular A) for the 2011 release. He was part of the set last year so I won't rehash that blurb but you can see it here.

When we last left Lee, he was recuperating from a knee injury just 15 games into the 2013 season. He missed the rest of the season and opened this year on the disabled list. He was reactivated on April 22, 2014 and has played in 42 games for the Rays' AAA affiliate, the Durham Bulls.

2011 Topps Pro Debut #99 Brandon Guyer

Brandon Guyer is shown here with the Tennessee Smokies, the Cubs AA affiliate. Guyer is a curious choice for this set as his "pro debut" came in 2007 after he was drafted in the 5th round of the 2007 draft. He made all of the natural progressions over the years with low, mid and high Single A before reaching Tennessee.

After being traded to the Rays in 2011, Guyer was assigned to the Durham Bulls but made his MLB debut in early May of that season. In his first Major League at bat, Guyer hit a two-run home run but was optioned back to Durham three days later with just the one game under his belt. He got another one-game call up in July and then again for thirteen games in September.

He had another 3-game Rays stint in 2012 after a hot start in Durham before being derailed for the season with a shoulder injury. The 2013 season was spent entirely in Durham but Guyer made the Rays MLB roster out of Spring Training for 2014. He played in 28 games before fracturing his thumb in late May. Yesterday, he started his rehab assignment in Durham and is expected back to the Rays by the end of the month.

I really like the idea behind Pro Debut but starting off with a guy who was in last year's set and another guy whose "pro debut" was three years before isn't great execution.

Where Are They Now? 2010 Pro Debut Part 8

This is the eighth and final post of this running series where I take a look back at the future Cubs represented in the 2010 Pro Debut. You can view previous posts here:

Part One - Ryan Flaherty and Brett Jackson 

Part Two - DJ LeMahieu and Brooks Raley

Part Three - Chris Archer and Hak-Ju Lee

Part Four - Rebel Ridling and Trey McNutt

Part Five - Welington Castillo and Jay Jackson

Part Six - David Cales and Casey Coleman

Part Seven - Josh Vitters and James Leverton

Su-Min Jung was signed as a free agent by the Cubs out of Korea in 2008. On this card, Jung is shown with the Arizona League Cubs for which he pitched 3 innings over two appearances. He gave up two hits and two walks but held the other team scoreless and struck out three. He moved up to low A Boise Hawks where he made seven starts in eight appearances with no record to show for it.

2010 saw Jung make another move, playing the entire season with the Single-A Peoria Chiefs. He pitched in 22 games and his 7 Wins was good enough for second on the team.

He threw in another 22 games in 2011 but split it between Peoria and Boise with a combined 2-3 record and a 4.96 record. Jung reverted further in 2012, pitching for the Arizona League Cubs and Boise Hawks again. He went 1-1 with Boise and had no record with the AZL Cubs.

Jung was released by the Cubs during Spring Training this year and I couldn't find any statistics for him for 2013.

Last but not least, and also shown with the AZL Cubs, is Justin Bour. The Cubs drafted Bour in the 25th round of the 2009 draft. Also like Jung, Bour split 2009 between the AZL Cubs and the Boise Hawks, although as a position player (first base), Bour got much more playing time.

In 2010, he moved up to Peoria and hit .291 with 12 home runs and 87 RBIs. This got him another call up for 2011 where he spent the entire season in High-A Daytona. His batting average dipped a little to .277 but he hit 23 home runs and 85 RBIs. 

Bour has spent the past two seasons with Double-A Tennessee Smokies where in 2012 he had 110 RBIs. He was recovering from an injury this season and played in only 83 games, but his 18 home runs was second on the team only to Javier Baez. And his 64 RBIs was second only to Arismendy Alcantara.

He's a local guy so despite being blocked at first base, I'm pulling for him to do really well. Justin's older brother, Jason was drafted by the Reds and later went through the White Sox organization, but topped out at Double A.

I had fun catching up with this set so I hope to do it again next season for the 2011 set. Maybe when the 2014 Pro Debut set comes out.

Where Are They Now? 2010 Pro Debut Part 7

This is part seven (of eight planned) of this running series where I take a look back at the future Cubs represented in the 2010 Pro Debut. You can view previous posts here:

Part One - Ryan Flaherty and Brett Jackson 

Part Two - DJ LeMahieu and Brooks Raley

Part Three - Chris Archer and Hak-Ju Lee

Part Four - Rebel Ridling and Trey McNutt

Part Five - Welington Castillo and Jay Jackson

Part Six - David Cales and Casey Coleman

The Cubs selected Josh Vitters with the third overall pick in the 2007 draft and he was a top 100 Baseball America Prosect from 2008-2010. He's been gradually making his way up the chain and made his Major League Debut last August in a late season call up.

He's had a rough year in 2013, working through some injuries and playing in only 28 games in Triple-A Iowa. He was shut down early and it was announced in late August/early September that he would not be part of September call ups despite being on the Cubs 40 man roster. Hopefully the extra rest has him ready for 2014.

James Leverton was drafted in the 8th round by the Cubs in the 2008 draft. He went a combined 10-14 in 2008-09 in low and high Single-A before turning it around in 2010. Between three teams, Leverton went 10-1 with a 2.75 ERA. So of course the Cubs released him for 2011.

He started that season with the New Jersey Jackals of the Canadian-American Association (an independent league) before signing a minor league contract with the Florida Marlins. Yeah, they were still the Florida Marlins back then. He's been rising through the ranks since, spending most of this season out of the bullpen with their Triple-A affiliate, the New Orleans Zephyrs.

The card above was signed during Spring Training prior to the 2012 season with a little help from someone who 'graphed the Marlins. 

Where Are They Now? 2010 Pro Debut Part 6

This is part six (of eight planned) of this running series where I take a look back at the future Cubs represented in the 2010 Pro Debut. You can view previous posts here:

Part One - Ryan Flaherty and Brett Jackson 

Part Two - DJ LeMahieu and Brooks Raley

Part Three - Chris Archer and Hak-Ju Lee

Part Four - Rebel Ridling and Trey McNutt

Part Five - Welington Castillo and Jay Jackson

Here's a feel good, hometown boy makes good story I'm still waiting to play out. David Cales was born in Chicago, went to a Chicago high school and St. Xavier University in Orland Park, Illinois. So when he was drafted by the local Chicago Cubs in the 24th round of the 2008 draft, most people would consider that a pretty good story. And it is. But in your early twenties, you still have your whole career ahead of you so the story isn't over. The down side isthat he grew up in the south side of Chicago and in fact, his mom worked (still works?) for the White Sox.

He played in three different levels in 2009, including one game at Triple-A Iowa, where he is shown on the card above. He split 2010 between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa and even earned a spot on the Southern League midseason All-Star team.

He ran into some shoulder problems so after surgery in 2011, Cales spent most of 2012 rehabbing. He began 2013 with the high Single-A Daytona Cubs but was released in May. But to keep the feel good aspect of this story, Cales was signed by the White Sox shortly after and is currently with their Double-A affiliate, the Birmingham Barons. 

Next up is another potential feel good story waiting to be played out, Casey Coleman. Along with his former Cubs pitcher father, Joe Coleman and former Major League pitcher grandfather (also) Joe Coleman, they are the fourth three generation baseball family. 

Casey has been shuttling back and forth between the Iowa Cubs and the Chicago Cubs since 2010, although he has yet to make a big league appearance this season. And unless something changes, he is not currently on the 40-man roster so he probably won't.

He began his career as a starter but this season was primarily used out of the bullpen. The verdict is still out on whether this will further his career with the organization. Everybody knows the Cubs can use help in all aspects of the pitching game!

Where Are They Now? 2010 Pro Debut Part 5

This is part five (of eight planned) of this running series where I take a look back at the future Cubs represented in the 2010 Pro Debut. You can view previous posts here:

Part One - Ryan Flaherty and Brett Jackson 

Part Two - DJ LeMahieu and Brooks Raley

Part Three - Chris Archer and Hak-Ju Lee

Part Four - Rebel Ridling and Trey McNutt

Looking back at who I've shown off so far and ahead to those yet to come, I'd have to say that Welington Castillo has been the most successful so far. It helps that he's been with the Cubs organization since 2006 and on the card he is shown on the Iowa Cubs, the Cubs Triple-A affiliate. That kind of gave him a head-start over some of the other guys featured.

In fact, shortly after this card was released, Castillo made his MLB debut. A third catcher behind Geovany Soto and Koyie Hill, Castillo played in 7 games in 2010 and 4 in 2011. But with the release of Hill after 2011 and the trade of Soto to the Rangers in 2012, Castillo saw his playing time increase and has been the starting catcher for most of the past season and a half.

This season, his .271 batting average and .350 on base percentage (unfortunately) leads the team.

Also shown with the Iowa Cubs is pitcher Jay Jackson. Even though he'd been with the Cubs organization since 2008 and with the Iowa Cubs from 2009-2012, he never got the call to the bigs. He performed well in the low levels but struggle in Triple-A. A Top 100 prospect just a few years ago, the Cubs released him prior to Opening Day this year.

The Miami Marlins signed him shortly after and he's spent time with both their Double-A (Jacksonville Suns) and Triple-A (New Orleans Zephyrs) affiliates. 

Both of these cards were signed with a little help from an SCN member with access to the Iowa Cubs a couple of years ago.

Where Are They Now? 2010 Pro Debut Part 4

At the end of last Sunday's post, I teased two of the more interesting names from the set, so today I present to you Rebel Ridling and Trey McNutt. But first, here's a quick look at previous entries in this series:

Part One - Ryan Flaherty and Brett Jackson 

Part Two - DJ LeMahieu and Brooks Raley

Part Three - Chris Archer and Hak-Ju Lee

Rebel Ridling was drafted in the 25h round of the 2008 draft out of Oklahoma State University. That year he started in low Single-A with the Boise Hawks and finished the year and mid Single-A with the Peoria Chiefs. The next season was spent entirely with the Chiefs, as shown on the card above. He progressed to high Single-A Daytona for all of 2010 and even Double-A Tennessee Smokies for 2011. But after a disappointing 2012 split between Daytona and Tennessee, Ridling was released after the season.

Ridling played some left field but mostly first base. With Anthony Rizzo as the long term Cubs first baseman, I'm not sure how much room there was him had he played well anyway. I couldn't find any stats for him for 2013 so I don't think anyone picked him up. 

The Cubs picked up Trey McNutt in the 32nd round of the 2009 draft out of Shelton State Community College. He didn't play for the Daytona Cubs until 2010 so it's a little weird that his 2010 card above shows him on the team. It should have been a Boise Hawks card (like Hak-Ju Lee) or from the Arizona Fall League (like LeMahieu and Jackson).

McNutt got a taste of Double-A Tennessee by the end of the 2010, but unfortunately he's been stuck there since. He's racked up a 16-20 record with a 4.52 ERA over his parts of 4 seasons there. He is part of the Cubs 40-man roster though so I'm curious to see if he gets a late season call up.

Where Are They Now? 2010 Pro Debut Part 3

For the past two Sundays, I've been taking a look back at the "future Cubs " featured in 2010 Topps Pro Debut to see where they stand.

Part One - Ryan Flaherty and Brett Jackson. 

Part Two - DJ LeMahieu and Brooks Raley

The two players featured today will share a bond beyond just being in this set together. Back in January 2011, both Chris Archer and Hak-Ju Lee were involved in the 8-player trade with the Tampa Bay Rays that brought Matt Garza to the Cubs. Here is what they've been up to since.

Chris Archer's Pro Debut card shows him on the Peoria Chiefs. This was his first team with the Cubs organization although he was originally drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 5th round of the 2006 amateur draft. He spent three season in the Rookie League and Single-A before being traded to the Cubs along with John Gaub and Jeff Stevens for Mark DeRosa in 2009. So, I know I've said it before, I have no idea how Topps selects the players they do since many have made their "Pro Debut" long before their card came out.

Anyway, after going 5-18 over the three seasons in the Indians organization, 2009 was Archer's first year with a winning record, going 6-4 with a 2.81 ERA in 27 games. He followed that up in 2010 by going 7-1 with a 2.86 ERA in High Single-A (Daytona Cubs) and 8-2 in Double-A (Tennessee Smokies).

I guess the Cubs thought they were selling high when they traded Archer to Tampa Bay. I think they may have just been high. But hindsight is 20/20, I guess. He leveled out over the next few seasons, mostly with Triple-A (Durham Bulls) for the Rays but made his Major League debut last season as a late season call up. He finished 2012 with a 1-3 record in six appearances but after a little more time with the Bulls this season, Archer seems to have turned it around again. He is currently 8-5 with a 2.81 ERA. Over a four game span in July, in which he won all four games, Archer gave up just one earned run, one unearned run and threw two shutouts.

I don't follow much of the American League so this may a huge stretch, but I'd be curious to see where he falls in the ROY discussions. (I think he is still eligible based on the limited playing time from last season but I could be wrong...)

Alright, on to Hak-Ju Lee. Originally from South Korea, Lee played for the Boise Hawks (low Single-A) in 2009 as seen on his Pro Debut card and the Peoria Chiefs in 2010. As I mentioned, Lee was involved with the Garza trade prior to the 2011 season, which compared to Archer above, makes a little more sense. Despite Lee being a top ranked prospect at shortstop by both Baseball America and MLB.com for the past three seasons, back in 2010-2011, the Cubs thought they had the shortstop position locked up for many years in young phenom Starlin Castro. And while they still do have Castro under contract for a while, this past season has certainly seen many Cubs fans change their tune on him.

But back to Lee. He's risen through the ranks since joining the Rays, with stops in High Single-A (Charlotte Stone Crabs), two seasons in Double-A (Montgomery Biscuits) and started this season with the Rays Triple-A affiliate, the Durham Bulls.

In his first 15 games this year, Lee was batting .422 with 6 stolen bases and 11 walks before blowing out his knee in a collision at second base. He's been on the disabled list since and will likely miss the rest of the year too. Again, I don't follow much of the American league and I couldn't name the Rays middle infield off the top of my head. That said, after looking them up (and I had heard of them, just know very little about them), I don't see why Lee couldn't be the shortstop or second baseman of the future for the Rays. Provided his rehab is going well and is ready to start 2014 healthy.

Six down, ten more to go! Looking ahead to next week's post, we have two of the more interesting names in this team set.

Where Are They Now? 2010 Pro Debut Part 2

Last week I debuted a new mini-series of posts featuring a look back at the "future Cubs" that were in 2010 Topps Pro Debut and seeing where they are now. Today I'm back with part 2, featuring D.J. LeMahieu and Brooks Raley.

D.J. LeMahieu was originally drafted in the 41st round of the 2007 draft by the Detroit Tigers out of high school. Passing on that to go to Louisiana State University seems to have worked out for him as two years later in 2009, LeMahieu was selected in the second round by the Cubs. Drafted ahead of him by the Cubs in first round? One of last week's subjects, Brett Jackson.

LeMahieu is shown on the card with the AZL Cubs, where he spent a grand total of 3 games in 2009. In those three games, he went 5-12 with 4 RBIs and was bumped up to Single A Peoria Chiefs where he finished the season. He continued to progress, spending 2010 with the Daytona Cubs before making big jumps in 2011. LeMahieu played for Double A Tennessee, Triple A Iowa and had two stints with the big league Cubs.

Over 37 games, he gave Darwin Barney rests at second and Aramis Ramirez at third. He batted a respectable .250 but after the season ended, he was packaged up with Tyler Colvin and shipped to the Colorado Rockies for Casey Weathers and Ian Stewart.

In 2012 and 2013, LeMahieu has split time between the Rockies and their Triple A affiliate, Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He has played first, second, third and shortstop but is currently the Rockies everyday second baseman. The Rockies definitely got the better end of this deal.

The card was signed back when he was still with the Iowa Cubs.

A few rounds after Jackson and LeMahieu were drafted in 2009, in the 6th to be exact, the Cubs selected Brooks Raley out of Texas A&M University. He too made his way up the ranks, AZL Cubs and and Boise Hawks in 2009, Daytona Cubs in 2010 and the Tennessee Smokies in 2011. In 2012, Raley played in Tennessee, moved up to Iowa and also made his Major League debut with the Cubs on August 7.

That didn't go as planned as he gave up 7 runs in four innings to the San Diego Padres. He took the loss in his second start as well, but lowered his ERA from 15.75 to 9.00 by only giving up a more respectable 3 runs in 6 innings. He finished the 2012 season with 5 starts, a 1-2 record and a 8.14 ERA. It didn't look good for 2013.

He's currently leading the Iowa Cubs in games started and innings pitched but has an 8-9 record and a 4.15 ERA. He did get a brief call up in July and finished a 13-2 blowout loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He only gave up two of those runs over the final 4.1 innings of the game, so that's an improvement.

He's scheduled to start this afternoon's game in Iowa against the Memphis Redbirds. Good luck, Brooks!

Where Are They Now? 2010 Pro Debut Part 1

I was filing away my newly acquired 2013 Pro Debut Cubs team set and took a minute to browse through the entire run. With about three full seasons since Topps debuted this set in 2010, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the 2010 edition with a "Where Are They Now" feature. I thought about breaking it down into who made it, who hasn't, who's still with the team, who's not, etc. But I'll just do it by the card number.

The first two Cubs in the set, and the focus of this post are Ryan Flaherty and Brett Jackson.

#23 Ryan Flaherty, Peoria Chiefs

Ryan Flaherty was the Cubs second first round draft pick in 2008 out of Vanderbuilt University. They selected Andrew Cashner with their regular allotted pick and then Flaherty with a supplemental pick (41st overall) after losing Jason Kendall to free agency. He played in Boise in 2008 and Peoria in 2009 (the team shown on the card). By the time 2010 rolled around and this card was issued, Flaherty had moved up to the A+ affiliate, Daytona Cubs and later in the season, Double-A Tennessee Smokies. He continued on the right path in 2011, playing mostly in Tennessee but moved up to Triple-A Iowa for 49 games.

The next offseason, the Baltimore Orioles selected Flaherty in the Rule V draft. He has spent the past two seasons ('12 & '13) between their Triple-A affiliate, Norfolk Tides and the big league club.

This card was autographed during Spring Training last year, after he was already with Baltimore. Since he never made an appearance with the Cubs, he won't be in the ATCRCS set, making this likely the only Flaherty card I'll get autographed. Unless he was in some minor league team sets I have yet to acquire.

#76 Brett Jackson

Brett Jackson was also a Cubs first round pick, this time #31 overall in 2009 out of UC, Berkeley. Also like Flaherty, Jackson has been climbing the ladder, spending time at each level along the way. He's been a pre-season Top 100 prospect for each of the past three years according to Baseball America.

In his MLB debut last August, Jackson went 2-4 with a walk and a run. Unfortunately, it was downhill after that. He finished the season having played in 44 games, batting .175 with 4 home runs and  RBIs.

This season hasn't been much better. He was batting .223 at Iowa before a stint on the disabled list. I don't know if he's officially rehabbing or not but he is currently playing for the Double-A Tennessee Smokies. He is listed on the Cubs 40-man roster so I wouldn't be surprised if he's given another chance come September. The Cubs are chasing a roster size record after all!

I'm about 90% sure I have a signed version of this card too but I couldn't find the scan.

EDIT: Found it! Now 100% sure...