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Several years ago, the Chicago Cubs were really excited about calling up a top prospect named Starlin Castro. After him, they were excited about acquiring top first base prospect Anthony Rizzo. After them, it was Kris Bryant and Addison Russell, both of whom were called up this season. People know these names.
But there’s one name they may not know.
Yet another shortstop in the Cubs’ system is starting to look like he could be a stud in the major leagues at some point. Gleyber Torres is lighting up Single-A pitching and he just recently celebrated his 18th birthday. Give him a couple more years to develop and he could be scary good.
At Single-A right now, Torres is batting .319 in 55 games and has driven in 35 runs while swiping 10 bases. He has just one home run, he’s not going to hit for power, but his glove, his bat and his speed will make up for the lack of power.
When someone is as young as he is, it’s very hard to predict exactly where he will end up in his major league career, but if his recent performance is any indication, he has a good shot of cracking the major leagues at some point. On Saturday, he ended a recent slump by recording five hits, hitting a home run and driving in three.
He is the Cubs’ No. 4 prospect at the age of just 18 for a reason; the talent is there. Now the Cubs need to mold him into the elite prospect that he’s already becoming. If they do that, they will get reinforcements in a few years, which a team always needs regardless of talent level at any particular position. He could even be used as trade bait now or in the future.
Players like Castro, Rizzo, Bryant and Russell are household names nowadays despite the fact none of them are over the age of 25. As long as he keeps performing and developing the way he has in just 105 minor league games with the Cubs, Torres will be a household name very soon.
