Cubs continue to prioritize infielders in Day 2 of 2024 MLB Draft
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After selecting a pair of college third basemen on Day 1 of the 2024 MLB Draft, the Cubs kept adding infielders in the early stages of Day 2 Monday afternoon.
Here’s a full breakdown of each pick from the second day of the Draft, which features Rounds 3-10.
Rounds 11-20 will come on Tuesday.
[READ: New Cubs prospect comes from a family of Cubs fans]
Round 3 (90th overall): Ronny Cruz, SS, Miami Christian School (Fla.)
Cruz is a 6-foot-2, 170-pound switch-hitting infielder who just wrapped up his senior year of high school. He is currently committed to the University of Miami.
In 21 games during the 2023-24 season for Miami Christian School, Cruz slashed .397/.467/.571 (1.038 OPS) with 2 homers, 13 runs and 16 RBI – all stats according to Max Preps.
Round 4 (120): Ty Southisene, SS, Basic High School (Nev.)
Southisene was ranked as the 111th prospect entering the Draft by MLB.com and ranked as the highest prospect out of the state of Nevada.
Listed at 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, he was recruited by Tennessee for college.
Here is MLB.com’s scouting report on Southisene:
He might be a plus hitter in time, showing an ability to make hard contact with an advanced approach at the plate and an affinity for breaking down his at-bats and swing. He can try to get big and sell out for power at times, but when he stays within himself he finds the barrel against all kinds of pitching with excellent bat speed and should naturally get to solid power. A quick-twitch athlete, Southisene’s plus baseball IQ and instincts enable all his tools to play up. His arm might traditionally be a little short, but because of his release, his hands and footwork, he has every chance to stick at shortstop.
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Round 5 (153): Ariel Armas, C, University of San Diego
The 6-foot, 185-pound backstop was a junior at the University of San Diego.
He hit .298 with a .399 on-base percentage and .429 slugging percentage (.828 OPS) during the ’24 season for San Diego. Armas hit 6 homers with 29 RBI and 39 runs scored in 55 games.
He walked (27) nearly as much as he struck out (33) with an advanced approach at the plate.
Round 6 (182): Ryan Gallagher, RHP, University of California, Santa Barbara
Gallagher represents the first pitcher selected by Dan Kantrovitz and the Cubs in the 2024 Draft. The 21-year-old is listed at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds and worked mostly as a starter at UC Santa Barbara.
He was 10-1 with a 2.22 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in 14 starts this season, striking out 96 batters in 89 innings.
Gallagher missed the entire 2023 season due to injury but went 8-0 with a 3.25 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in 16 games (15 starts) in 2022.
Round 7 (212): Ivan Brethowr, OF, University of California, Santa Barbara
The Cubs used back-to-back picks on UC Santa Barbara players and this is their first outfielder selected.
Brethowr is a 21-year-old who bats and throws right-handed. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound outfielder mashed 15 homers and drove in 39 runs in 50 games during his 2024 season with UC Santa Barbara.
He batted .275 with a .402 OBP and .968 OPS.
Round 8 (242): Edgar Alvarez, 1B, Nicholls State
The Cubs went back to the infield well for 2 of their final 3 picks in Monday’s portion of the Draft, beginning with Alvarez 242nd overall.
The big, left-handed-hitting first baseman (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) tore up the Southland Conference with a .405/.514/.678 slash line (1.192 OPS) with 21 doubles, 13 homers and 67 RBI in 58 games. He also scored 76 runs and walked (53) a lot more than he struck out (32).
Round 9 (272): Brooks Caple, RHP, Lamar University
Caple was one of the pitchers tasked with trying to get Alvarez out in the Southland Conference. The 6-foot-6 righty had a strong season, going 7-3 with a 2.40 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 102 strikeouts in 97.2 innings.
In the only game they faced each other, Caple walked Alvarez twice and struck him out looking once.
Round 10 (302): Matt Halbach, 3B, University of Californa, San Diego
The Cubs closed out Monday with another infielder and another player from California. Four of the seven selections on Monday came from California.
Halbach is a 6-foot-3, 215-pound third baseman who turns 22 in January. He was limited to only 19 games in 2024 for UC-San Diego, where he hit .409/.511/.662 (1.173 OPS) with 9 doubles, 3 homers and 18 RBI.