#7 Chris Huseby, RHP
There's no business posting his stat lines. There are a whole seventeen innings professionally and less than that his senior year in high school. The Cubs' 2006 draft had little at the top because they did not have picks 2-4. This allowed them to invest heavily on tough signs with upside. A couple other guys that fall under this category are Andrew Rundle and Cliff Anderson. Chris Huseby certainly has the potential to be a very good investment. The Cubs felt he was good enough to invest in him with a seven figure bonus.
Following his sophomore season in high school Huseby hit he showcase circuit and made quite a name for himself. He went to the 2004 Underclassman National Showcase and impressed the Perfect Game scouts. They gave him the coveted 10 PG Rating which goes to potential first round talents. At the time he was throwing 84-88 with his fastball and threw a hard KO curveball. Both pitches had plus potential.
Huseby went into his junior season and was having a stellar season until he complained of elbow problems. It turned out that he needed Tommy John surgery. Huseby did not return until his senior season. He didn't get much action only going in short stints at a time. Most teams thought his committment to Auburn was too solid to sign him so they didn't bother sending their crosscheckers. The Cubs sent theirs to watch him and came away impressed. They graded him as a first round talent and took him with their 11th round pick and eventually signed him for a 11th round record $1.3m.
Obviously, the Cubs wanted to be catious with the guy returning from such a serious arm injury. They kept him out of some of the Arizona Fall League season and he ended up getting into six games towards the end but was on strict pitch limits. He did not qualify for Baseball America's top 20 prospects for the AFL, but they did note he would have made the top ten if he had pitched a few more innings. It looks like Tim Wilken stole this kid.
On the mound there's a lot of potential from Huseby. The first thing that jumps out at you is his height. He's a mammoth 6'7" beast. He throws a plus fastball that is 90-93 touching 94. His projection on the pitch is through the roof and it should develop into a plus fastball. His second pitch is a knockout hard curveball that before his injury was a plus pitch and one of the best in the country. It's a true power curve that is a strike out pitch. He's also added a new wrinkle, a changeup that should develop into a serviceable pitch.
Before the injury Huseby had good command and clean mechanics. He's supposed to be a great kid with good work ethic. So far he's made a great recovery from the injury. If anything that has shown that he's going to work at everything. Drafting pitchers with arm injury histories is risky, but in cases like this it probably shows devotion from the kid.
Huseby is a long ways away. Still, he's a projectable righty with two potential plus pitches and strikeout potential with command. That's something the Cubs cannot develop to save their lives. His ceiling is among the highest in the organization from the arms (or position players for that matter). It remains to be seen what the Cubs decide to do with Chris. Given that he's still working his way back from the injury, he's probably ticketed for the Mesa Instructional League for the first half of the season and then on his way to Boise for the Northwest League. I doubt the Cubs will promote him to full-season Peoria to open up the season considering he hasn't pitched five innings in a game in several years. Maybe he'll pitch well in Boise and get a late promotion to Peoria. It would be nice to see a 1-2-3 punch of Jose Ceda, Mark Pawelek and Chris in Peoria, but don't get your hopes up.
There's no business posting his stat lines. There are a whole seventeen innings professionally and less than that his senior year in high school. The Cubs' 2006 draft had little at the top because they did not have picks 2-4. This allowed them to invest heavily on tough signs with upside. A couple other guys that fall under this category are Andrew Rundle and Cliff Anderson. Chris Huseby certainly has the potential to be a very good investment. The Cubs felt he was good enough to invest in him with a seven figure bonus.
Following his sophomore season in high school Huseby hit he showcase circuit and made quite a name for himself. He went to the 2004 Underclassman National Showcase and impressed the Perfect Game scouts. They gave him the coveted 10 PG Rating which goes to potential first round talents. At the time he was throwing 84-88 with his fastball and threw a hard KO curveball. Both pitches had plus potential.
Huseby went into his junior season and was having a stellar season until he complained of elbow problems. It turned out that he needed Tommy John surgery. Huseby did not return until his senior season. He didn't get much action only going in short stints at a time. Most teams thought his committment to Auburn was too solid to sign him so they didn't bother sending their crosscheckers. The Cubs sent theirs to watch him and came away impressed. They graded him as a first round talent and took him with their 11th round pick and eventually signed him for a 11th round record $1.3m.
Obviously, the Cubs wanted to be catious with the guy returning from such a serious arm injury. They kept him out of some of the Arizona Fall League season and he ended up getting into six games towards the end but was on strict pitch limits. He did not qualify for Baseball America's top 20 prospects for the AFL, but they did note he would have made the top ten if he had pitched a few more innings. It looks like Tim Wilken stole this kid.
On the mound there's a lot of potential from Huseby. The first thing that jumps out at you is his height. He's a mammoth 6'7" beast. He throws a plus fastball that is 90-93 touching 94. His projection on the pitch is through the roof and it should develop into a plus fastball. His second pitch is a knockout hard curveball that before his injury was a plus pitch and one of the best in the country. It's a true power curve that is a strike out pitch. He's also added a new wrinkle, a changeup that should develop into a serviceable pitch.
Before the injury Huseby had good command and clean mechanics. He's supposed to be a great kid with good work ethic. So far he's made a great recovery from the injury. If anything that has shown that he's going to work at everything. Drafting pitchers with arm injury histories is risky, but in cases like this it probably shows devotion from the kid.
Huseby is a long ways away. Still, he's a projectable righty with two potential plus pitches and strikeout potential with command. That's something the Cubs cannot develop to save their lives. His ceiling is among the highest in the organization from the arms (or position players for that matter). It remains to be seen what the Cubs decide to do with Chris. Given that he's still working his way back from the injury, he's probably ticketed for the Mesa Instructional League for the first half of the season and then on his way to Boise for the Northwest League. I doubt the Cubs will promote him to full-season Peoria to open up the season considering he hasn't pitched five innings in a game in several years. Maybe he'll pitch well in Boise and get a late promotion to Peoria. It would be nice to see a 1-2-3 punch of Jose Ceda, Mark Pawelek and Chris in Peoria, but don't get your hopes up.
1 comment:
Interesting to know.
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