Prospect Corner- Cliff Andersen

Chicago Cubs Prospect Cliff Andersen

• 6’2”
• 190LB
• OF
• Bats: L
• Throws:L
• Drafted by the Cubs out of Cottonwood HS (Salt Lake City, UT) in the 9^th round of the 2006 draft.

Physical Description: Good athletic body, well proportioned, rangy and strong.

Strengths: Extremely athletic, plus runner (6.6 60), average arm strength for a RF’er. Quick hands at the plate, and should generate power in the future.

Weaknesses: Very raw, has not developed accordingly to plan, applauded for his approach at the plate in pre-draft workouts & has struck-out 238 times in 704 ABs. Despite the 238 strikeouts, indicative of a struggling power hitter, he has only 4 HRs in those 704 ABs as he has not been able to translate impressive rounds in the cages into game action. This is caused by a poor approach with two strikes. He pulls off the ball and seldom goes gap to gap, and struggles with the breaking ball.

Likely Destination: Should repeat at Peoria to improve on his .221/.306/.298 numbers last year. Most optimistic scenario is that he does well t Peoria and shows enough progression with his approach at the plate to possibly end up at Daytona. Most pessimistic scenario is that he struggles early at Peoria, ends up at Instructional ball until Boise begins, and finishes the year at Boise.

Major League comparison: N/A

Likely career path: It’s hard to say at this point given how far he needs to go just to project as a starting RF’er, but he has the tools to do so. The Cubs certainly won’t give up on him as they highly value his tools and spent $155,000 to sign him (well above the norm for a 9^th rd. pick). There isn’t a log-jam of OF’ers coming up the pipeline, so the Cubs can and will be extremely patient with Andersen waiting for him to become the prospect that they believe he can be,

Tags: chicago cubs, mlb prospects

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