Roster Move: Cubs land Henry Cone after draft |
Dustin Riese
· · 6 hours ago
It's remarkable how quickly events can have a ripple effect throughout an organization. Not even 12 hours after the Cubs landed Aiden Moffett on the free agent market, another pitcher is signing with the Cubs post-draft, as Henry Cone has agreed to an undrafted free agent deal. The Albeline Christian right-hander was teammates with the Cubs' third-round pick Dominick Reid, and you have to wonder if that played a role in this signing.
Before we dive into Cone and his overall statistics, it's worth noting that at 6-1 and 201 pounds, Cone has an MLB body, and his frame still has the potential to develop further. Given how lean some of today's pitchers can be, acquiring a player who appears to have an MLB-ready frame is crucial, as that aspect of their game tends to take some time to develop. Cone has bounced around a ton since committing to the college ranks, initially committing to Baylor before landing with Elon and then Albeline Christian this past season. Elon only saw him appear in one game, pitching two innings as he was recovering from injuries sustained during his Baylor days. His work at Baylor wasn't impressive as he went 0-1 with a 7.94 ERA across nine games, 11 walks, and five strikeouts. Anytime your command is that bad coming out of high school, you tend to find yourself at the bottom of the totem pole, which is where he was for most of his collegiate career. Finally healthy again, Cone elected to transfer to Albeline Christian for the 2025 season, and although some of the numbers don't look great, there was significant improvement across the board. Once again, his ERA wasn't pretty, posting a 1-4 record with a 7.04 ERA across 15 innings. The biggest area of note was the massive improvement with command as he walked nine and struck out 21 in those innings. That still isn't an excellent ratio, but compared to what it was, you can see the work he has put in over the years to become a more reliable player. The Cubs are hoping that the work ethic will pay off in their organization. As is the case with any prospect, especially an undrafted player, you have to dive way beneath the numbers to get a better feel for how good a player can be. Anytime you have an average fastball at 93 MPH and capable of 96 MPH, you are off to a great start, which is where Cone tends to sit. Along with his fastball comes his secondary pitch, the cutter, which averages 86 MPH but has the capability to reach even higher speeds. That pitch has great glove-side life and is often a major struggle for right-handed batters to square up. Another secondary offering that Cone has started to experiment with is his curveball, which sits around 83 MPH and comes with great shape. That alone gives him three pitches to play with, and the Cubs have been known for picking out a good pitch and using their pitching lab to build off it. Cone is one of those guys who has some good upside on the mound, even if the overall numbers may not show it. All you need to do is look at his massive command improvement from this past season, as he put in the work to become a better pitcher, and it started to translate. Another what you would call a long-term, low-risk play, Cone will be joining a lot of the Cubs draft picks in Mesa to get some reps in before the season winds down. Whether or not he appears in a game this season remains to be seen, but he is someone the Cubs are going to take a long look at as he has the upside to sneak into their future pitching infrastructure.
