MLB PIPELINE NAMES CUBS' PROSPECTS OF THE YEAR... CONGRATULATIONS JASON VOSTER
FORMER NORTH JERSEY CARDINALS PLAYER
CHICAGO -- Right-hander Cory Abbott and infielder Jason Vosler were named the top Cubs Minor League pitcher and player, respectively, by MLB Pipeline.
Each team's Hitting and Pitching Prospects of the Year were chosen by the MLB Pipeline staff. To receive consideration, players must have spent at least half the year in the Minors and appeared on the team's Top 30 Prospects list.
Vosler, 25, began the season at Double-A Tennessee, where he batted .238 with 12 homers, 18 doubles and 46 RBIs, then was promoted to Triple-A Iowa, where he hit .263 with 11 homers, 11 doubles and 47 RBIs. A 16th-round pick in the 2014 Draft, he played primarily third base but also played first and second.
"This year, he really focused on tapping into his power and leveraging his lower half," Madison said of Vosler. "He's really got a good feel for his swing now and what he wants to do with every pitch, every swing. He's not going up there looking to spray the ball around, he's looking to hit it as hard and as far as he can to the middle and pull side of the field. Now, he's starting to understand how pitchers are trying to pitch to him and making the adjustment and finding pitches he can do damage with."
Vosler hit 14 home runs in his first three Minor League seasons but then studied hitters like Joey Votto, J.D. Martinez and Justin Turner and focused on hitting line drives.
"I just want to hit line drives -- line drives that rise," Vosler said in an interview this summer with the Des Moines Register. "In batting practice, if I'm hitting line drives at the center fielder, that's good. Because if I miss under it, now I have a home run. If I miss over it, I might have a ground ball up the middle. But if I'm staying through the middle of the field with a line drive, I think that's kind of the best result you can have."
Vosler also took advantage of having Hall of Famer Alan Trammell around when the infielder played in the Arizona Fall League last year.
"It wasn't like he sat down and talked to us, but more on-the-field stuff," Vosler said this spring. "He was kind of cool because right when he got to [Mesa], he immersed himself into the whole thing, right on the field, introducing himself to everybody. Most of the coordinators who came from other teams worked with their own guys and [Trammell] worked with the whole team, which was awesome."
