via MiLB

Adbert Alzolay is the top prospect in the Chicago Cubs farm system. The 23 year old right hander profiles as a middle of the rotation starter at the big league level and has the repertoire and pure stuff to get him there.

Alzolay got the start for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs on Monday for game 1 of a doubleheader. That start could very well have been his final tune-up before he makes his MLB debut. His start schedule has him lined up for his next start to occur on this upcoming Saturday, a day in which the Chicago Cubs will have a doubleheader of their own against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Cubs will be allowed to bring up a 26th man to occupy a roster spot on Saturday, a spot that is typically used by a spot starter that gets the call from the Triple-A level. With a completely full 40-man roster, the Cubs will need to bring up a player that is already on the 40-man, which Alzolay was placed on during this past offseason.

If it is indeed Alzolay, his debut will be highly anticipated as he will be the highest ranked prospect for a pitcher in the Theo Epstein era to make a start in the majors. While he won’t be the first Epstein-acquired pitcher to make his debut (see Tseng, Zastryzny), he will definitely have the highest ceiling.

Unfortunately, the 6’0” righty is coming off a real clunker of a start on Monday against the Round Rock Express, a Texas Rangers affiliate. In his worst start of the season, Alzolay was only able to go 4.2 innings, while giving up 5 runs on 9 hits including 3 home runs. He only struck out 2 and walked one.

While the numbers were fairly ugly, his stuff looked significantly better than the results. He featured a fastball that sat in the mid 90s, touching 97 at times, but was unable to locate the pitch where he needed to. He often left it up in the zone, with the first two homers he gave up coming off that high heater. The curveball that he used on the day was very sharp for the most part, with tons of break and decent bite on the pitch.

Alzolay’s season stats prior to Monday night had looked terrific, with a 2.91 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 21.2 innings. Opposing hitters had only hit .200 off of him, while striking out 19.5% of the time and walking 8.1%.