2024 Cubs Prospect Profile: Cam Sanders |
When you look at the Cubs farm system as a whole, you can see why it is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, in all of baseball. Their top three prospects, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cade Horton, and the newly acquired Michael Busch, stack up with any other top three out there. Still, with seven top 100 prospects currently and the possibility of having nine once the season starts, the Cubs appear set up for long-term success.
While you have the nine front runners within the Cubs system, they have so many more pieces than that, as this system is vastly deep. It's so deep that whenever they trade a piece away from their system (DJ Herz) (Jackson Ferris), most of their players will not only land in the top 30 with their new organization but will find a way to land even higher than where they were previously ranked. You then look even further down the list, and you will see several players who were once top 30 prospects who are no longer on that list for whatever reason. That shows you how deep the Cubs system is, as the ones not in the top 30 would have a great shot at cracking the top 30 with other teams. RHP Cam Sanders is one of those guys. Once the No. 24 prospect in the Cubs system, Sanders now finds himself off the top 30 list, but is someone that the Cubs will be keeping tabs on this season. Initially drafted in the 18th round by the San Diego Padres in 2017, Sanders never signed and returned to school for one more season before entering the draft again. The Cubs took him in the 12th round in 2018, and he has been with them ever since. Primarily a starter in college, the Cubs have tried different roles with Sanders over the past few seasons, and now his best role is in the bullpen, which is where the Cubs plan to keep him. After a successful summer with Eugene in 2018, Sanders made his full-season debut with South Bend in 2019, where he played a massive part in their Midwest League championship. Throughout that season, Sanders appeared in 21 games, with 20 coming as starts, and posted an 8-4 record with an impressive 2.94 ERA. However, he sometimes struggled with his command, walking 53 and striking out 84, which the Cubs knew he needed to work on. Then came the lost 2020 season before Sanders was back on the mound as a starter for Tennessee in 2021. Across his 18 starts, Sanders took plenty of bumps along the way, going 4-7 that season with an ERA north of 5.30. One year later, it was the same story as Sanders made 18 starts again, posted an ERA of 4.94, and went just 2-7. However, it was the middle of 2022 when the Cubs moved him to the pen, and that was a great decision as he posted a 3.56 ERA in 17 relief appearances. Expected to make considerable strides in 2023, Sanders was one of the players to watch during spring and, after showing flashes, found himself in Iowa with the hopes of earning a call-up during the season. Instead, his first taste of AAA ball could have been better as he went 7-2 with a 5.15 ERA across 51 games. The 97 strikeouts in 64 innings are impressive, but the 63 walks are a concern, as the command is still problematic for him. Fast forward to the 2024 season, and this will be a massive year for Sanders as the stuff is there for him to be a solid reliever, but the command isn't. After sitting in the 92-93 MPH range as a starter, Sanders saw a tick in his velocity once he moved to the pen and has been consistently at 95 MPH ever since. He has also shown he can touch 98-100, so you know there is more in that arm than he has shown. His long, whippy, low three-quarters arm slot is tough to repeat but also challenging for righty batters to see. The shape of his fastball causes it to play below its velocity, and Sanders’ slider is how he most often misses bats. However, even with the high velocity, his curveball is consistently his best pitch as long as he can throw it close to the strike zone. With a heater that approaches triple digits, having a breaking ball in your back pocket at just 77 MPH is crucial as it provides a 20 MPH difference. He also has a change-up close to 15 MPH slower than his fastball, so keeping a hitter guessing is something Sanders is very good at. Given his high strikeout rate and swing-and-miss stuff, if Sanders can harness his command and cut down on the walks, there shouldn't be any surprises to see him make his MLB debut this season.
