The Chicago Cubs promoted infielder Javier Baez to the majors on Monday.
Baez was the Cubs number one pick, and the ninth overall, in the 2011 draft. He is the number seven prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America, and the second best prospect in the Cubs organization, Yahoo Sports reports. He has played shortstop and second base. With Baez joining the team Arismendy Alcantara, who had been playing second base, will likely move to the outfield, according to MLB.com.
"He has the ability, he has the talent," Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro said of Baez. "I think he can do the same -- come here and keep playing, keep doing his job. I think it'll be good for him."
The Cubs didn’t want to promote Baez until he dominated the Triple-A level. He is dominating the Triple-A level now. This season he is playing for Triple-A Iowa. In 104 games for Iowa Baez his hitting .260 with 23 homeruns and 80 RBIs, according to the Chicago Tribune. He has five homeruns and ten RBIs in his last ten games with Iowa. Last season he had 37 homeruns and 111 RBIS while playing for Class-A Daytona and Double-A Tennessee.
Baez will join the Cubs on Tuesday. He could make his debut on Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies.