The Bears will be starting a short 4 part mini-series of writing designed to re-invigorate our fan base about the future of Bears baseball. It is going to be much needed with the upcoming fan interest hit for dealing the face of our franchise. This series will do a deep dive into the next 25 men up in terms of their current potential. Eligibility will be any player with less than 1 year of ML service time that is currently in the Bears system or expected to debut in the system this year. Today, we will start with the starting pitchers and their catching battery mates.
SP Jose Garcia (A) - Drafted 14th Overall 2025
A college award winner and National Champ with the Trojans, Garcia did exactly as expected in his first year. He moved down hitters in SS-A and had some moderate success after a promotion to Single-A Chula Vista to end the year. While his strikeout rate dipped from 10.1 to 7.5 per 9/IP when jumping from SS-A to A, his BABIP also skyrocketed 120 points to .350. As a result, we're expecting significantly better numbers than the 4.02 ERA and 1.53 WHIP his 7 starts in A ball came with. Garcia continues to hold true ace potential but is a few years away from making an impact at the ML level. In an ideal world, Garcia would cruise through A-ball this year and have a few successful starts in AA to end his 2026 campaign. We're probably looking at 2029 or 2030 for Garcia to begin making a meaningful impact at the PEBA-level, but we are very excited about his future.
SP Fred Womack (AAA) - Acquired from Kentucky via Trade in 2025
Womack was absolutely dominant in 9 AA starts last year after being acquired. So much so that when the Bears found themselves in a pinch and needed a starter in the last week of the season, Womack got the call to the majors and earned a win for the Bears. He's likely headed to winter ball to work on his control and will need to show a little more polish in AAA this year before coming back up to the big leagues for good. It's likely that he will be a regular in the Bears rotation beginning in 2027. He's not quite an ace, but has shown consistent improvement and outperformance throughout his career so we're hoping he can push that ceiling a little bit higher. As a former undrafted free agent out of Rutgers, Womack is already an amazing success story that shows just how important hard work coupled with a high baseball IQ can be.
SP Lance Harris (AAA) - Acquired from Kentucky via Trade in 2025
He had spent the last year and a half pitching out of the bullpen before we acquired him, but the move back into the rotation was seamless. His 1.14 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 9 starts earned him the promotion to AAA. Much like his former Kentucky farmhand teammate Womack, we expect that Harris will eventually be a regular in the rotation, though he's not quite top of the rotation material. Again like Womack, he'll probably be a regular in the Bears rotation beginning in 2027. With his strong work ethic and great leadership ability, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the former 2nd round pick could continue to improve and become a little better than the back of the rotation arm he's currently projecting out as.
SP Erik Watson (AAA) - Drafted 5th Round in 2021
Watson will likely head to winter ball to work on his control this offseason. He's a finesse lefty that doesn't overpower people so really needs to stop walking people if he's going to have a bigger impact at the PEBA level. His 3.9 walks per 9 IP last year simply isn't good enough for a ground ball pitcher who allows a lot of contact. On the flipside, if he can get a better handle on his pitches, he profiles really nicely as a back of the rotation arm who will pitch to contact and not allow a lot of homers. His 2025 season was nowhere near as bad as his 4.72 ERA tends to indicate as his FIP was exactly a full run lower at 3.72 for the year. If winter ball has a good impact and he starts 2026 strong, he could be the first call to the minors when the club is in need of some starts. It's worth noting that he is only 23 and has had a fairly quick rise through the minors after being drafted out of high school. He made his AAA debut at age 21.
SP Bart Belcham (AA) - International Signing for $100k in 2022
He was viewed as the top pitching prospect by the old regime but has struggled with injuries over the past year. We're not holding out a ton of hope for Belcham as a top of the rotation regular that we once viewed him as, but are hoping that he can get healthy and reclaim his prospect status. He does have a few things working in his favor, namely his great work ethic and intelligence. Additionally, he's soft throwing crafty lefty, so the recent shoulder problems should have less of an impact than if he was a power pitcher who relied on pure stuff to get the job done. He's going to be back in AA next year with strict limits on pitches and innings. Despite the injuries delaying his development, he's just turned 20 and has produced in a meaningful way in AA when healthy. Plenty of time for him to recover.
C Andrew Baker (AAA) - Signed Minor League Contract 2021
Baker will return to AAA for a third consecutive season where we're expecting to see some statistical improvement to go along with perceived improvement in skills from our scouting department. The prior regime did him a disservice by having him skip AA but we think a positive season in AAA this year could springboard him to a competition for the backup catcher competition in 2027. With one of our best young players at the catcher position, there's not a huge need for big prospects here and it does seem to be a weakness in higher levels of the farm.
C Rivelino Prado (SS-A) - Discovered in Venezuela 2022
Prado will make his debut in SS-A Cold Bay in 2026 after hanging out at the International Complex for a few years. He is a hard working catcher with an okay glove and some offensive upside. He has a little bit of infield ability and could get some time at first base to broaden out his value down the road. OSA likes him slightly more than my scout so if that becomes the reality we will be pleasantly surprised. Even with our projection, he will be an average hitting catcher who warrants PEBA at bats.
Honorable Mentions:
SP Oliver Martinez (A),
SP George Farleigh (A),
C Connor Clavell (SS-A),
C Carlos Miranda (A)
Conclusion:
The club has one potential ace in the farm and quite a few middle of the rotation arms that are nearing the major league level. With the new signing of
Massacre Jimenez and the long-term extension of
Declan Littleworth, the Bears are set up nicely for the long-term. In the near term, another arm could help as there still seems to be a gap in the rotation and
Yoichibei Sakai and
Angel Lujan are set to depart in free agency after the season. Neither Sakai or Lujan are viewed as key players and we wouldn't mind seeing them combine for less starts in 2026. While the catcher position is pretty thin on prospects, we have
Steve McDonald under club control for quite a while so we have some time to work on this organizational weakness.
Next Up:
The Outfielders