Chicago Cubs: MLB Player Comps for Each Top Spring Training Prospect

The Chicago Cubs have an impressive young core in place at the MLB level, and there's still more talent in the pipeline.

Even after graduating so much young talent to the MLB level and then trading a handful of highly regarded prospects at the trade deadline last year—including No. 1 prospect Gleyber Torres—the farm system is far from barren.

"Everybody thinks all of our talent's already here," manager Joe Maddon told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Time out. There's other guys coming."

Many of the team's current top prospects are still in the lower levels of the minors and won't be present in big league camp this spring, but four of the team's top guys are in camp.

Ahead is a closer look at those four players, including a pro player comparison for each to provide a better idea of what they might become.

Note: To be included in this article, a player needed to be ranked among the organization's top 10 prospects by Baseball America or Baseball Prospectus.

IF Jeimer Candelario

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Pro Comparison: Luis Valbuena, Los Angeles Angels

Outlook

Jeimer Candelario is ready to make an impact at the MLB level.

The 23-year-old hit .333/.417/.542 with 22 doubles and nine home runs in 309 plate appearances with Triple-A Iowa last season.

The Dominican native has always had an advanced approach at the plate, with a 10.7 percent walk rate and a .351 on-base percentage over the course of his minor league career, and there's still room for him to add more power.

MLB.com's Prospect Watch wrote: "A switch-hitter with a fluid stroke from both sides of the plate, he makes consistent hard contact and draws a healthy amount of walks. Most of his power has come in the form of doubles to this point, but he could develop into a 20-homer threat as he adds strength and experience."

Trouble is, there's no room for him in a crowded Cubs infield.

That could make him a valuable trade chip in the not-too-distant future, and he has a profile similar to another Cubs infielder turned trade chip: Luis Valbuena.

Valbuena is also capable of playing second and third base, and his calling card has always been his ability to work a walk, as he has 10.7 percent walk rate over his nine-year career.

The 31-year-old was traded for Dexter Fowler prior to the 2015 season, and he set a new career-high with 25 home runs in his first season with Houston, a level of power production that could prove to be the ceiling for Candelario as well.

Valbuena may not be a star, but he's carved out a solid MLB career and signed a nice two-year, $15 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels this winter.

CF Albert Almora Jr.

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

Pro Comparison: Ender Inciarte, Atlanta Braves

Outlook

As a four-time Gold Glove winner, Jason Heyward knows a thing or two about outfield defense, and he had nothing but praise for the glove work of Albert Almora Jr.

"There are a lot of instincts he naturally has," Heyward told Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago. "That's kind of what you need to be successful at it—to really think the game before it happens. Then you can just go react to plays (because) the ability is there. He's got speed. He's got the arm. But he has a great mentality out there."

The No. 6 overall pick in the 2012 draft, Almora has been a bit slower to develop than some of the Cubs' other young studs, but he has a chance to play his way into a significant role this coming season.

The 22-year-old played 237 total innings in the outfield last season, tallying 3 DRS and a 23.7 UZR/150, according to FanGraphs, while hitting .277/.308/.455 with 13 extra-base hits in 117 plate appearances.

So, who's the best pro comparison?

Ender Inciarte might not receive the same attention for his glove that guys like Kevin Kiermaier, Kevin Pillar and Jackie Bradley Jr. do, but he's a standout defender in his own right with 64 DRS with a 19.3 UZR/150, according to FanGraphs, over the past three seasons.

The two share plenty of similarities on offense as well.

Inciarte hit .291/.351/.381 with 34 extra-base hits and 16 stolen bases last season, continuing to show more gap power than over-the-fence pop.

Meanwhile, Almora figures to be a similar high-average, high-contact player who doesn't hit for a ton of power but steals some bases and backs it all with stellar defense.

The Cubs would no doubt welcome that career trajectory.

2B/OF Ian Happ

Pro Comparison: Kole Calhoun, Los Angeles Angels

Overview

The popular comparison for Ian Happ has always been Ben Zobrist.

Both players have strong on-base skills and surprising pop, and Happ has shown defensive versatility with time spent at second base and in center field since joining the Cubs organization.

However, it's looking more and more like Happ will eventually settle into a corner outfield spot.

"Happ has quickness and arm strength, yet those tools don't translate as well as they could to his defense. [...] His infield actions are more stiff than smooth, however, and most evaluators outside of the Cubs organization believe he's most likely to wind up in left field," wrote MLB.com's Prospect Watch.

With that being said, let's instead look for a more fitting comparison among corner outfielders.

Happ hit .279/.365/.445 with 30 doubles, 15 home runs and 73 RBI while splitting his first full professional season between High-A and Double-A.

His physical frame and overall offensive game are essentially a finished product at this point, so a similar line could prove to be his ceiling at the MLB level.

Those numbers are similar to what Kole Calhoun posted for the Los Angeles Angels last season.

The 29-year-old hit .271/.348/.438 with 35 doubles, 18 home runs and 75 RBI while playing above-average defense in the outfield, and he's quietly turned into a nice secondary piece alongside superstar Mike Trout.

Happ has that kind of upside.

Whether he reaches it as a member of the Cubs or with another organization remains to be seen.

RF Eloy Jimenez

Mark Cunningham/Getty Images

Pro Comparison: Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins

Outlook

Just how good can Eloy Jimenez be?

"Sky’s the limit. I think he's someone who can sit in the middle of a lineup and wreak a lot of havoc on some pitching across the major leagues. It’s just a matter of him maturing as a hitter and understanding what pitchers are going to try to do to him," senior VP of player development Jason McLeod told Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago.

After a breakout 2016 season, the 20-year-old is now ranked among the league's top prospects by Baseball America (No. 14), Baseball Prospectus (No. 9) and MLB.com (No. 13) heading into the upcoming season.

Jimenez hit .329/.369/.532 with 40 doubles, 14 home runs and 81 RBI in 464 plate appearances with Single-A South Bend, and he turned heads on the national level when he doubled and homered as one of the youngest players in the annual Futures Game.

Those 14 home runs might just be the tip of the iceberg, though.

Jimenez has tremendous raw power, and therein lies the comparison to Giancarlo Stanton.

That may seem like a bold comparison on the surface, but consider the following:

While playing in the Arizona Fall League, Jimenez hit the fifth-hardest hit ball ever recorded by Statcast, with a blistering 119.4 mph exit velocity, according to Mike Rosenbaum of MLB.com.

The four above him and two below him on that list all belong to Stanton, so Jimenez has entered rarified air, and all before his 20th birthday.

Jimenez still has a good deal of developing to do, and turning into an elite-level power is by no means guaranteed, but the tools are there.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com, unless otherwise noted.