Baseball America is gradually adding players to their Rule 5 preview page. Today, they got around to adding two Cubs. Both players careers are off to slow starts due to injuries but have good stuff and could be stashed on the DL for a sizable chunk of 2023 without raising any eyebrows.
"Yovanny Cruz, RHP, Cubs
It’s fairly accurate to say that Cruz is a far out pick, with just 8.1 innings above the now defunct short-season level. He’s older at 23 for a player with so little experience due to the pandemic and having Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2021. Cruz returned this season, making 10 appearances between the Arizona Complex League and High-A. While we have just 13.2 innings to go off of, Cruz flashed plus stuff, sitting 98-99 mph and touching 101 mph per Trackman. He pairs his fastball with a tight mid-80s slider that was dominant in his limited time on the mound in 2022. With one of the highest average fastball velocities of any Rule 5-eligible pitcher, Cruz is worthy of mention, but his lack of full-season experience makes this an extremely risky pick.
Danis Correa, RHP, Cubs
Correa is a hard-throwing undersized righthanded reliever with two bat-missing secondaries and some command woes. Correa’s four-seam fastball sits 96-98 mph, touching 100 with average command. However, it’s Correa’s pair of bat-missing secondaries in his upper-80s changeup and his low-80s two-plane curveball with raw spin rates in the 2,600-2,700 rpm range on average that stand out. Each of Correa’s secondaries generated whiff rates above 50% and contributed to his 52.4% groundball rate in 2022. While his command and walk rate leave something to be desired he offsets many of his walk issues with whiffs and bad contact. Correa should be an attractive option to clubs as he’ll be just 23 years old for a majority of 2023 and has a season’s worth of upper-minors experience. Factor in his plus fastball velocity, two bat-missing secondaries and ability to generate ground balls and you can easily see Correa selected."