Chicago Cubs Around the Farm 4/21/23: Miguel Amaya Hits Pair of Home Runs

Christopher Morel's stat line to begin 2023 is comical. The 23-year-old is hitting .373 with a 1.317 OPS and six home runs. He has picked up five Biggest Yes awards, already catapulting him to a tie for fourth place in the Cubs' farm system despite being in the majors when this series started last season.

In this game, Morel had a costly error that put a runner on base to start the fifth inning. That runner was one of two that crossed the plate to give the Bisons a 3-2 lead that they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game. Still, even with that, Morel's bat is too impressive to ignore. He was on base after 75 percent of his plate appearances and scored both runs for Iowa. It's hard to argue with his case for Biggest Yes.

Biggest Yikes: Brennen Davis — 0/4, 3 LOB

Davis has continued to have an absolutely brutal start to his 2023 season with Iowa. After this game, he is hitting just .149 with a .481 OPS. That's tough for a guy who was lauded for breaking out with the bat just a couple of seasons ago.

Davis had several opportunities to come through with a big hit in this game, and he fell short each time. In the ninth inning, he came up to the plate with a runner on first and lined out for a costly second out. Now, Davis has his fifth Biggest Yikes award and third of this season alone.

Double-A Tennessee: 7-1 Victory Over Chattanooga Lookouts

Biggest Yes: Miguel Amaya — 2/4, 2 HR (3), 3 RBI

Miguel Amaya is looking great with Tennessee so far this season. He's hitting .320 with an OPS of 1.295. How's that for a defense-first catcher? Amaya is my 18th-ranked Cubs prospect, and the bat only really started to come around last season. Now, it seems the 24-year-old's bat is legit after a scorching start to the year.

It was really hard not to give this Biggest Yes to Ben Brown, who started the game. He went six innings, surrendering four hits and one earned run while striking out nine in a stellar outing. Still, the two home runs Amaya smashed put him over the edge and gave him the win.

Biggest Yikes: Jordan Nwogu — 0/4, 2 LOB

Nwogu has the unfortunate case of just being the only Smokies player to not register a hit. More than that, the powerful outfielder didn't even get on base. In a game where the Smokies scored seven runs on 12 hits and only gave up one run and five hits, it's hard to go in a different direction than Nwogu for Biggest Yikes here.

High-A South Bend: 7-3 Victory Over Great Lakes Loons

Biggest Yes: Brandon Birdsell — 4.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 6 SO

Birdsell looks like a steal in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB Draft, albeit in a limited sample size. In three starts, Birdsell has only surrendered two hits, and both of those hits came in one game. The 23-year-old, my 56th-best Cubs prospect, has a 0.84 ERA, a 0.75 WHIP, and a .063 BAA. He has 12 strikeouts in 10.2 innings, and opposing batters are slugging just .063 against him.

Birdsell fanned six over four no-hit innings, leaving the Loons in a hole that proved impossible to overcome. The righty is still working through some command issues, but he's off to a fast start, and that's a beautiful thing.

Biggest Yikes: Casey Opitz — 0/5, 3 SO, 5 LOB

In a game where the Cubs had 15 base runners, Opitz was not one of them. He also struck out and lined out with runners in scoring position. I have Opitz as my 101st-best Cubs prospect, primarily due to an average field tool. He is certainly not known for his bat, so it is hard to expect a ton from him. Still, this is a tough stat line to swallow.

Low-A Myrtle Beach: 3-4 Loss to Augusta Greenjackets

Biggest Yes: Cristian Hernandez — 2/3, BB, 3B, RBI, R

Hernandez had a really tough start to his Low-A career this season. He picked up two Biggest Yikes awards back to back in the first two games of the season. Since then, though, Hernandez has been cruising along.

He's up to a .303 average and a .893 OPS after hitting his second triple of the season and getting on base in half of his plate appearances. The 19-year-old is looking much more similar to the No. 8 Cubs prospect he truly is.

Biggest Yikes: Rafael Morel — 0/4, 4 SO, 6 LOB

It is difficult to do much worse than Morel did at the plate in this game. He struck out 100 percent of the time and left a ton of potential runs on the bases as a result. There were several players who left runners on base and struggled at the plate; however, the strikeouts do it for me here. Morel picks up his second Biggest Yikes award in the last three games.