Is the hype overblown?
Yes.
Is the media coverage over the top?
Yes.
Are expectations completely unreasonable?
Yes.
Rizzo isn't even a top 10 prospect.
But for the Cubs, Rizzo is actually a big deal.
Why?
Rizzo is really potentially the first impact player that the Cubs have recalled that is one of "Theo's guys".
He was drafted by Theo Epstein and he spent a majority of his minor league career in Theo's system in Boston.
This is not a Jim Hendry free swinging, undisciplined, fundamentally unsound guy. This isn't Starlin Castro or even Brett Jackson (whom many think is a better prospect). Rizzo is supposed to be a player who was taught how to play the game, as Theo puts it, "The Cubbie Way." Yes, players like Jackson and Castro were developed by the old Cubs system, but that was a system that pretty produced nothing for the better part of a decade.
So this is important because this is supposed to give us a preview of things to come. It's going to be a few years before we see another Theo guy come up from the minor leagues.
So enjoy.
