Grading the Pick: Cubs take a chance on righty Connor Spencer |
Dustin Riese
· · 4 hours ago
Once the Cubs made their first pitching selection of the MLB draft, they began to fall fast and furious, as you can never have enough pitching. After all, pitching wins championships, and even if most of these pitchers never pan out, the Cubs did their homework and didn't hesitate to add a plethora of arms to their organization that they want to get some looks at next season and beyond.
One of those arms happens to be the Cubs 12th 12th-round selection in Ole Miss RHP Connor Spencer, who was taken with pick no. 361. A bit of an add selection when you consider he is already 25 years old, the 6-2, 225-pound Spencer has MLB size, but the reality is he doesn't have nearly the same timeline as others to develop and prove he belongs. Another one of those relief-only prospects that a lot of teams are starting to target, Spencer was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 16th round of the 2024 draft before electing not to sign with them and returning to school. Although he didn't get drafted as high as he would've liked, he did manage to get taken four rounds sooner this time around, and you have to wonder if that alone is enough to get him to sign with the Cubs. Spencer is one of those pitchers who didn't see a ton of time as a relief-only arm, but still managed to pitch in 53 collegiate games, totaling 58 innings. In those games, Spencer posted a 1-3 record with a 4.19 ERA, 30 walks, and 78 strikeouts. That includes this past season, where he went 0-1 across 28 games but posted an impressive 1.82 ERA. He struck out 27 as opposed to just 10 walks, as something was working for him this season. Anytime you sign a college player this old, you get a sense that money is no option, but instead, the team must really like what they see in them. The Cubs have had scouts on every corner of the globe all season, so you can bet at least one of them has seen Spencer pitch, and from all accounts, he must have made some impression. In an era where velocity is king, Spencer can rush his fastball up there at 95, but he tends to sit around 92-93 MPH, while letting his movement and deception take care of the rest. Spencer mixes in a change-up and a slider to offset the hitters' timing, and although neither of them is viewed as a plus pitch right now, that isn't to say one of them can't be after some time in the pitching lab. With the Arizona Complex League wrapping up, it's safe to assume that Spencer will head to Mesa to work out for the remainder of the season, simply to get acclimated with the Cubs organization. Once next year arrives, look for him to bypass the ACL and go directly to the full-season leagues, as age is not on his side when it comes to making it to the big leagues. Grade C: Players taken outside of round 10 tend to have a lower grade, knowing that a large portion of those players sometimes go unsigned and wind up back in school. Spencer isn't one of those guys, as he doesn't have any more years of eligibility left and thus must work for every opportunity coming his way. Taking relief-only prospects is becoming more popular, but it also comes with plenty of risk, as the lower innings limit on their arms tends to limit how much they can be used during the first few years of their development. This is another one of those project-type arms, where if it works out, the Cubs are going to be ecstatic, but if it doesn't work out, it's essentially like a Minor League free agent, where you simply take a flyer on a deal.
