Would you believe me if I told you that 20-year-old Brailyn Marquez has been in the Cubs organization for nearly five years? Maybe it’d help if I told you he’ll be 21 at the end of the month. The Cubs signed him as an international free agent when he was still just 16 years old and already throwing in the low 90’s, but he really burst onto the scene with a 14-strikeout performance last season in South Bent.
Physical maturity has helped quite a bit as Marquez developed from gangly teenager into slightly less gangly 20-something, but he’s still got plenty of room to fill out that 6-foot-4, 185 pound frame.