Matt Szczur Ends An Up And Down Season

The season is over for the Tennessee Smokies, the Chicago Cubs' AA affiliate. which means that former Villanova superstar Matt Szczur has completed his second full season of minor league baseball. The results? Decidedly mixed, which means that he will definitely repeat AA to begin next season. Szczur's final season line in AA was .210/.285/.357 in 158 plate appearances, which added to his line in Daytona (.295/.394/.407 in 352 PA) brings his season total line to .267/.360/.390, which looks pretty good, but his age, relative low ceiling, and increasing strikeout rate (in the double digits for the first time) call his future success into question, as strikeout rates tend to increase as the level gets higher.

Bottom line: there needs to be more power, a prodigious walk rate, or superb defense or else you're looking at a fifth outfielder.