Baseball analyst Rob Neyer recently weighed in on the pending call-up of Chicago Cubs prospect 1B Anthony Rizzo. In Neyer's most recent mailbag, he says that Rizzo is indeed ready for MLB pitching, but the timing is not yet right for a call-up:
According to Neyer, the Cubs will not benefit from bringing Rizzo to Wrigley at the present moment:
Rizzo is clearly ready for the majors. He's got at 1.068 OPS in 135 Triple-A games... He's 22; he's one of the best hitting prospects in all of baseball, but the Cubs are going nowhere. They have a first baseman, Bryan LaHair, who's having a great season. And they just don't need Rizzo right now.
And more than just production reason, the Cubs do not want to bring Rizzo up yet for financial reasons too:
So it's makes us leave him down there for a few more weeks, maybe a month, so he doesn't get that Super Two status that will allow him to file for arbitration a year earlier than most players with his experience. I think we'll see him probably not until middle of June, maybe a little sooner...
For more on the Chicago Cubs, check out the Cubs blog Bleed Cubbie Blue. And to learn more about the latest MLB prospect news and ratings, drop by Minor League Ball with John Sickels.