Tommy Birch

tbirch@dmreg.com

It was two years ago that the first wave of Chicago Cubs prospects made their way to Des Moines with Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Jorge Soler suiting up for the Iowa Cubs.

The second wave came in 2015 with Baez and Bryant coming back and Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber getting their first crack at Triple-A baseball.

The third wave arrived this week.

A prospect-filled Iowa Cubs team will take the field when it opens the Pacific Coast League season at 3:08 p.m Thursday at Principal Park.

“It’s such a great thing for an organization to know that once you get guys to the big leagues, you’ve got more guys on the way and I think that’s going to be the case with Iowa this year and that’s what’s so exciting about being an affiliate in the Cubs system,” said ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian.

Iowa Cubs notebook: Looking at the Opening Day roster

Theo Epstein took over as Chicago’s president of baseball operations in October of 2011. Ever since then, he’s been building the Cubs’ organization one move at a time by drafting, developing, signing and trading for talent.

The Cubs traded for Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, Anthony Rizzo and Russell. They drafted Bryant and Schwarber and signed Soler. All of them made their way through Des Moines, and all of them are major contributors today in Chicago.

Their arrivals in Chicago has culminated into what could be the most exciting season in Cubs' history, with many predicating a World Series title being raised at Wrigley Field.

“We’ve got a lot of expectations with the big club, of course,” said Iowa manager Marty Pevey. “They’re hungry and they’ve come up together and just adding a few pieces here and there has made us a contender in our division and a team to have to beat over the next five or 10 years.”

Chicago isn’t the only one to reap the benefits of all the success. All of the organizations’ minor-league affiliates have also, including Des Moines, the last stop no the minor-league route. The packed lineups over the last few seasons have made Des Moines’ team a hot ticket in town.

“I think our fan base (Chicago Cubs) grew with generational fans just because the impact Bryant and Rizzo had,” said Nate Teut, Iowa’s executive vice president/assistant general manager.

Iowa rode last season’s wave of talent by ending the PCL season ranked fifth among the league’s 16 teams in total attendance, averaging 7,531 fans while also eclipsing 500,000 for the season. Kenny Houser, Iowa’s director of ticket operations, said the I-Cubs' Opening Night game was the biggest April game in team history.

He credited that to the intrigue over Bryant and fans who hoped to see once last glimpse of him in Iowa before he got called up. Fans were too late, but there were plenty of players to enjoy the rest of the season.

“It was a very good year,” Houser said.

This year could be just as good in the stands and on the field. Houser said that while individual ticket game sales are a little down from last season, season ticket sales have improved this year. Part of the reason: The current wave which includes six players ranked in Baseball America’s top-30 rankings of prospects in the organization.

Catcher Willson Contreras, outfielder Albert Almora Jr., first baseman Dan Vogelbach, and pitchers Carl Edwards Jr., Pierce Johnson and Ryan Williams are all on Iowa’s Opening Day roster, which was revealed Tuesday.

Contreras has already been praised as the catcher of the future. Almora Jr. was part of Chicago’s Core Four of big prospects. Vogelbach has hit his way through the minors, while Edwards Jr., Johnson and Williams are all on the radar as arms that could help Chicago.

“I think it’s going to be pretty special this year,” said Jaron Madison, Chicago’s director of player development. “We have a lot of young prospects that everyone has been hearing about that will make an appearance up there in Des Moines at some point this summer and they’ll also get a chance to see some of those guys on their way back to the big leagues to help toward a championship.”

While Bryant and Russell were with Iowa for only a short amount of time last season, this group could be in Des Moines longer. Edwards Jr. is the only one of the six players with Triple-A experience. He also got a taste of big-league action last season.

Madison said barring any injuries in Chicago, Iowans should get plenty of opportunities to see this group.

“We don’t have the holes that we need to fill up there at the big-league level,” Madison said. “So this will give the Albert’s, and the Willson’s, and the (Vogelbach’s), those guys time to develop and get a full season hopefully under their belt in Triple-A,” Madison said.

It’s an exciting time to be a player in the Cubs organization — even if you’re not in Chicago.

“We’re in a good spot,” Almora Jr. said.

As crazy as it sounds, there’s still another wave on its way to Des Moines. Madison said he expects outfielder Bill McKinney, who will start the season in Double-A, to make it to Iowa this season. He added that shortstop Gleyber Torres and infielder/outfielder Ian Happ probably won’t this season, but if history tells fans anything, it’s that the two could be in Iowa in 2017.

“This is the residue of what Theo Epstein promised the minute he took over the Cubs,” Kurkjian said. “That he’s going to take his time, he’s going to be methodical about this, but he’s going to build the organization from the ground up and that’s precisely what he’s doing.”

Precautionary netting added at Principal Park

Top Cubs prospects to know

Willson Contreras

Age: 23

Position: Catcher

Baseball America organization ranking: 2

Contreras might be the most prized prospect of the group, and many fans have him pegged as the Cubs’ catcher of the future. Contreras will get his first shot at Triple-A baseball after he tore apart opposing pitchers in 2015, hitting .333 and becoming the first Smokies player to win the batting crown since 1978. The success earned him Cubs’ Minor League Player of the Year honors.

Albert Almora Jr.

Age: 21

Position: Outfielder

Baseball America organization ranking: 6

Almora Jr. was included in Chicago’s Core Four prospects along with Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler. Injuries over the years have slowed his rise to Triple-A, but the Cubs’ 2012 first-round pick is finally here. He owns a good glove that Chicago manager Joe Maddon even compared to retired Gold Glove winner Jim Edmonds. Almora Jr. hit .272 with Tennessee last season and missed time to compete for Team USA in the Pan American Games.

Pierce Johnson

Age: 24

Position: Right-handed pitcher

Baseball America organization ranking: 12

Johnson has been hampered by injuries, but should be one of the biggest arms in the Iowa rotation. He was limited to just 18 games (17 starts) in 2014, and only 16 starts last season. When Johnson has been on the mound, he’s been productive. He went 6-2 with a 2.08 earned-run average with 72 strikeouts in 95 innings with Tennessee last season. “Pierce is a guy that has all the tools to be a top-of-the-rotation starter,” said Jaron Madison, Chicago’s director of player development.

Carl Edwards Jr.

Age: 24

Position: Right-handed pitcher

Baseball America organization ranking: 13

Edwards Jr. began last season in Double-A, worked his way up to Triple-A and finished the season in Chicago — all while transitioning from the starting rotation to the bullpen. He combined to go 5-3 with a 2.77 ERA in both minor-league stops last season. Edwards Jr. then compiled a 3.86 ERA in five appearances in the big leagues.

Dan Vogelbach

Age: 23

Position: First baseman

Baseball America organization ranking: 25

Vogelbach was a second-round pick by the Cubs in 2011, and has seemingly hit every level along the way in his rise to Triple-A. In 76 games last season with Tennessee, he hit .272 with seven home runs and 39 RBI. The predicament for the Cubs: What to do with Vogelbach. With Antony Rizzo in complete control at first base in Chicago, the Cubs don’t appear to have a home for Vogelbach. Madison said he’ll stay at first. “Injuries pop up at the big league level (and) with designated hitter games and things like that, there could be opportunities for him to get up and impact the big-league team,” Madison said.

Ryan Williams

Age: 24

Position: Right-handed pitcher

Baseball America organization ranking: 27

Williams will make his first Triple-A start Thursday, and it’ll be a big one as Iowa’s Opening Day starter. He appeared in 26 games (24 starts) between Class-A (full-season) and Double-A last year, compiling a 14-3 mark with a 2.16 ERA. His strong season earned him Cubs’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors.