Cubs uber-prospects Jorge Soler, Javier Baez and Kris Bryant hit back-to-back-to-back home runs
Cubs top prospects hit back-to-back-to-back home runs
Heading into 2015, few teams have generated as much excitement as the Cubs. Shrewd acquisitions of Jon Lester and Dexter Fowler, combined with some of the most talented and powerful young hitters in the game, have Cubs fans dreaming not just of a World Series, but a North Side dynasty for years to come.
They got a taste of that hopeful future on Tuesday.
In the top of the fourth inning, Jorge Soler led off with a monster blast off Trevor Bauer that just stayed fair:
Javier Baez followed suit, rudely interrupting Indians hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo:
Refusing to let Burkleo get a word in edgewise, Kris Bryant then came up and drove one to the opposite field:
It's a sight that baseball fans may want to get used to. After all, the trio combined to hit a total of 95 home runs between the Majors and Minors last season, far outpacing their collective age of 65.
According Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA projections, this year should be more of the same. The three are projected to hit a combined 72 Major League bombs:
- Soler: 584 PA, .257/.316/.458, 24 HR
- Baez: 434 PA, .224/.270/.429, 25 HR
- Bryant: 394 PA, .261/.351/.515, 23 HR
Those home run totals are especially impressive as only four Major Leaguers (Mike Trout, Marcell Ozuna, Mike Zunino and Oswaldo Arcia) were under the age of 23 and hit 20 or more home runs last season.
Given how PECOTA works, regressing players to a historical mean, and considering the short body of Major League work the three sluggers have, it's possible -- if extremely unlikely -- that the powerful group could even top that estimate.
They're definitely on top of their selfie game:
And isn't that what Spring Training is for: getting excited over things that probably won't happen, but could?
