2023 Chicago Cubs Top 30 Prospect Wraps: Luis Vazquez
InsidetheCubs.com will review each of the Chicago Cubs’ Top 30 prospects, as ranked by MLB.com at the end of the 2023 season.
No. 21: SS Luis Vazquez, Tennessee Smokies (Double-A), Iowa Cubs (Triple-A)
Statistics for 2023: (124 games) .271/.361/.456/.817, 72 runs, 24 doubles, 20 home runs, 80 RBI, 54 walks, 121 strikeouts, 10 stolen bases, 10 caught stealing.
At Tennessee (58 games) .284/.340/.483/.823, 38 runs, 13 doubles, 11 home runs, 40 RBI, 16 walks, 65 strikeouts, four stolen bases, seven caught stealing.
At Iowa (66 games) .257/.381/.428/.809, 34 runs, 11 doubles, nine home runs, 40 RBI, 38 walks, 56 strikeouts, six stolen bases, three caught stealing.
Season Transactions: Vazquez started the season at Tennessee. On June 28 the Cubs promoted him to Triple-A Iowa.
Season Summary: Vazquez is finally moving through the Cubs organization, as he joined in 2017. The reality is that he made significant improvement from 2022, where he spent the season with Tennessee and Iowa and batted nearly fifty points worse than he did this season. There wasn’t much difference between his average at Tennessee and Iowa. He almost evenly split his home runs and evenly split his runs batted in between Tennessee and Iowa. This is the kind of season that could get the Cubs interested in promoting him to the Major League level soon.
Road Through the Organization: The Cubs drafted Vasquez out of a Puerto Rico high school in 2017, but he didn't make an appearance in full season minor league baseball until 2021. He's been through the Rule 5 Draft twice but wasn’t picked up by another team either team. Yet, he has a reputation for being one of the best defensive infielders in the organization. The problem has been his offense. He hasn't been able to generate much consistency or much power. That has limited his progress until this season.
What’s next: Based on 2023, it's possible that Vasquez is no longer a light-hitting middle infielder anymore. It's likely the Cubs will start him at Iowa in 2024 in an effort to see if the progress that he made as a hitter can be sustained past 2023. If he can combine that with his above-average defensive skills, and the Cubs may have a middle infielder that could serve as a potential injury replacement during the 2024 season.
2023 Chicago Cubs Top 30 Prospect Wraps:
No. 30: Christian Franklin | No. 29: Brody McCullough | No. 28: Kohl Franklin | No. 27: Pablo Aliendo | No. 26: Porter Hodge | No. 25: Luke Little | No. 24: Jaxon Wiggins | No. 23: Caleb Kilian | No. 22: Josh Rivera |
