Where There’s A Willson, There’s A Way

BEST PLAYER: After winning the Southern League batting title last year, catcher Willson Contreras opened the Triple-A Iowa season with a blistering start—he hit .350/.439/.591 in 54 games—and he showed enough rapid improvement in his game-management skills to earn a big league debut on June 17.

Within 10 games, he had caught four of the Cubs’ starters, made starts at three different positions (also first base and left field) and had hit three homers and driven in nine runs in his first 27 at-bats.

“He’s different—in all the best ways,” big league manager Joe Maddon said of the high-energy rookie. “He’s a good study. He’s insatiable and always in a quest for more information—and it’s sincere. He’s not Eddie Haskell at all. He’s definitely Willie Contreras.”

BIGGEST LEAP FORWARD: Cuban lefthander Gerardo Concepcion, who signed a five-year, $6 million major league contract in March 2012, had been all but written off as a bust. Now a reliever, he flashed promise early in 2015, followed by a breakout start to his 2016 season.

Through 22 games this season, Concepcion recorded a 1.29 ERA with a 0.97 WHIP and strikeout rate of 8.7 per nine innings at Double-A Tennessee and Iowa. He earned a June 21 debut, retiring all four batters faced.

“The stuff’s always been there,” farm director Jaron Madison said. “He’s always been a guy who’s 95 (mph) with flashes of a plus breaking ball. Now he’s gotten more consistent and is getting used to a bullpen role.”

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Iowa righthander Pierce Johnson, the 2012 sandwich pick from Missouri State who was the first pitcher selected by the Cubs under president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, has continued to have his development bedeviled by injuries. He made three trips to the disabled list this season.

None of Johnson’s injuries has been arm-related, but he pitched around DL stints last season, too, and he sports a too-high career walk rate of 3.8 per nine innings.

A bruised forearm from a line drive, an oblique/lat injury and a blister conspired to limit Johnson to just six starts in the first half.

“It’s probably more frustrating for him than anybody,” Madison said. “When he’s on the field, he performs and does well. He’s battled some fastball command, but he’s in a good place on the mound now.”