{"id":73750,"date":"2024-05-19T23:49:12","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T03:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=73750"},"modified":"2024-05-19T23:49:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T03:49:12","slug":"chicago-cubs-to-promote-luis-vazquez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/19\/chicago-cubs-to-promote-luis-vazquez\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs To Promote Highly Touted Infield Prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Cubs are set to promote infield prospect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=vazque002lui&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luis<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=vazque002lui&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> V\u00e1<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=vazque002lui&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">zquez<\/a>, per his cousin Jorge Castillo of ESPN. V\u00e1zquez is expected to be with the team on Tuesday as the Cubs begin a series against the Atlanta Braves. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/13\/cubs-mlb-top-100-prospects\/\" target=\"_self\">MLB Pipeline<\/a> ranks Vazquez, a 14th-round pick in the 2017 draft, as the 13th-best prospect in Chicago&#8217;s system.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Cubs are calling up Luisito V\u00e1zquez, per mi t\u00eda (his mother).<\/p>\n<p>The best news I&#8217;ll probably ever report in my career. From Orocovis to Wrigley. Un orgullo.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\ude80\ud83d\ude80\ud83d\ude80<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jorgecastillo\/status\/1792324241611768248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The move comes as the Cubs have been without both starting middle infielders for at least a week. Shortstop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/swansda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dans<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/swansda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">by<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/swansda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Swanson<\/a> has been on the injured list with a knee sprain, while second baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hoernni01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nico<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hoernni01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Hoerner<\/a> hasn&#8217;t played since Monday due to a hamstring issue.<\/p>\n<p>In their absence, the Cubs have turned to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mastrmi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miles Mastrobuoni<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/madrini01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Madrigal<\/a>. Unfortunately, the duo has not provided any offense (35 wRC+ for Mastrobuoni and 62 wRC+ for Madrigal) and doesn&#8217;t compare defensively to the elite abilities of Swanson or Hoerner.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago expects both Swanson and Hoerner back in the lineup on Tuesday. So, V\u00e1zquez&#8217;s promotion might raise some questions regarding their statuses. It&#8217;s possible one of them experienced a setback and will miss more time. It&#8217;s also possible that the Cubs would rather promote V\u00e1zquez and give him a shot over Mastrobuoni or Madrigal.<\/p>\n<h2>Chicago Cubs To Promote Luis V\u00e1zquez<\/h2>\n<p>V\u00e1zquez, 24, comes with a reputation as a glove-first player. However, his prospect pedigree has risen as he started having offensive success last season. Split between Double and Triple-A, Vazquez hit a combined .271\/.361\/.456 with 20 homers and good walk and strikeout rates.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">What to expect from newly promoted Luis V\u00e1zquez:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Best defensive infielder I\u2019ve seen during my decade covering the Cubs system<br \/>\n\u2022 Tough stretch at plate recently has him at almost exactly league-average production in Iowa\u2019s league<br \/>\n\u2022 You guys said you\u2019d be content with 90 wRC+ <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nKCTvAvcT5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/nKCTvAvcT5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Greg Huss (@OutOfTheVines) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OutOfTheVines\/status\/1792333157523759327?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Puerto Rican prospect has carried that success into 2024. In 164 plate appearances, he has hit .270\/.369\/.409 with three home runs. According to MLB Pipeline, V\u00e1zquez made mechanical adjustments at the plate that improved his bat path and exit velocity. Additionally, he made an effort to pull the ball more, thus further tapping into some power.<\/p>\n<p>The publication describes V\u00e1zquez as still &#8220;overly aggressive at the plate.&#8221; But teams will take that if it comes with his elite defense and decent offensive upside.<\/p>\n<p>Evaluators credit V\u00e1zquez for making all the plays and possessing quick hands, good range, and solid arm strength. Though Chicago has kept him predominately at shortstop, he has seen time at second and third base. The Cubs will promote V\u00e1zquez and likely use him in a utility infielder role.<\/p>\n<p>V\u00e1zquez might be the antithesis of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/morelch01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christopher Morel<\/a>. While Morel is a bat-first utility player who doesn&#8217;t <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/03\/christopher-morel-hide-third-base\/\" target=\"_self\">field well<\/a> anywhere, V\u00e1zquez should field well all over the infield even if he doesn&#8217;t hit in the majors. Even if Swanson and Hoerner return healthy on Tuesday, V\u00e1zquez will likely be an upgrade over the journeyman Mastrobuoni in that backup role.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Cubs are set to promote infield prospect Luis V\u00e1zquez, per his cousin Jorge Castillo of ESPN. V\u00e1zquez is expected to be with the team on Tuesday as the Cubs begin a series against the Atlanta Braves. MLB Pipeline ranks Vazquez, a 14th-round pick in the 2017 draft, as the 13th-best prospect in Chicago&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4683,"featured_media":73759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,926,1071,35],"tags":[6192,488,2025,2048],"class_list":["post-73750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cubs","category-milb","category-mlb","category-news","tag-christopher-morel","tag-dansby-swanson","tag-nick-madrigal","tag-nico-hoerner"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4683"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}