Cubs' top prospects giving playoff-bound Peoria a lift

PEORIA - They're playing in Peoria. Really playing.

That's true for the Cubs' Class A Peoria Chiefs farm team, which leads the Midwest League's West Division.

And it goes for the Cubs' top two draft picks from this year, who joined what already was a good minor-league club and provided a boost.

Center fielder Brett Jackson, a product of the University of California-Berkeley, and shortstop DJ LeMahieu, a College World Series champion from LSU, are helping to spark a playoff run in Peoria.

"You tip your hat to the scouting department," said farm director Oneri Fleita, who stopped at Peoria for a recent look-see. "I say that all the time. Great drafts by (scouting director) Tim Wilken. These guys have come right in. They're very polished players.

"They come from great college programs, and they fit right in. They've kind of turned this club around. This club was inching forward all year. They came in here, and it seems that this club has taken off and is having a lot of fun."

Jackson and LeMahieu aren't the only ones. The Chiefs possess an interesting mix of prospects, including second baseman Ryan Flaherty, closer Chris Huseby, starting pitcher Chris Archer and catcher Michael Brenly, son of Cubs baseball analyst Bob Brenly.

Jackson and LeMahieu are getting most of the attention, largely because they were the Cubs' top two picks this year and because of their whirlwind year, which included college ball, getting drafted and moving quickly from club to club in the low minors.

"Obviously, it's been a whirlwind," said Jackson, who at 21 years old seems quite polished from a public-relations standpoint. "But it's been exciting. It's been everything and more than I've anticipated.

"It's been an easy transition for me, really. It was easy to acclimate with the team and to feel a part of this team quickly, especially coming from Mesa to Boise and really jumping into a playoff race here in Peoria."

Both Jackson and LeMahieu signed relatively quickly after being drafted. That means both were thrown into the work-a-day world of pro ball after the rah-rah atmosphere of college ball. For LeMahieu, that included a championship.

"It was unbelievable," said LeMahieu, who entered Monday batting .310 with a .364 on-base percentage. "It was awesome. Just to get to Omaha (for the College World Series) was awesome. It was the best time of my life.

"It's my job now. I've been here three weeks, and a lot of these guys have been here since Day 1. Obviously, it's different for them than it is for me. I had a couple weeks off after college ball. I can get to know what pro ball is like and experience it a little bit."

In addition to working every day, not having a school life to fall back on and dealing with the the sheer number of games (sometimes in unglamorous places before small crowds), there's a big difference in tone between the college and pro game.

"I was talking to Flaherty about it," Jackson said. "He was a college player, also. Just the importance of every college game seems on a scale more important because there are less games. You're chasing the postseason. You know your time with that club and that school is limited.

"There's an emphasis on the importance of every single game, whereas in minor-league ball, every single game is important and not to take anything away from that, but there is always tomorrow. And there's always next season. You have to convince yourself day in and day out that today's a new day. I'm going to work just as hard as I did yesterday and the day before that."

And, of course, there are the expectations that come with being a No. 1 pick. Jackson is off to a good start with a .316 batting average, .351 OBP and 15 homers entering Monday. His 27 strikeouts in 99 at-bats are a concern, but the Cubs point to this being his first few months as a pro.

"There's always going to be expectations, whether it's from the organization, whether it's from your family, whether it's from your fans," Jackson said. "If you eliminate your own expectations and you eliminate everyone else's expectations and come out and play hard and do everything you can to get on base and do everything you can to score, the game is simplified. It becomes easy. It becomes fun.

"And then you're playing the sport that you love, doing your job, and now it's just a game. That's really the mindset you have here as a Chief. It's done great things for us so far."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=316126">Cubs' top Peoria prospects talk about their game <span class="date">[08/24/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=316128">Another Brenly looking to find his place in baseball <span class="date">[08/24/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>