TIME RUNNING OUT ON VITTERS’ PROSPECTS
Cubs’ 2007 first- rounder now in Independent League
The No. 9 hitter for the Sioux City Explorers saunters to the batter’s box as cars whiz by on the highway beyond the outfield wall.
The No. 9 hitter takes off his helmet and uses his arm to wipe sweat from his fore- head. He adjusts his batting gloves, steps up to the plate and digs in with his right foot. He adjusts his helmet, taps his bat on the plate and sets up for his first at- bat.
The No. 9 hitter looks toward the pitcher and waits. The first pitch comes in belly- button high. It’s the type that baseball’s mavens, just a few years ago, imagined this No. 9 hitter sending into the bleachers of Wrigley Field or onto Waveland Avenue.
His swing remains a thing of beauty, really. The No. 9 hitter’s stance is relaxed, with a slight left leg kick upon the delivery of the pitch. The swing itself is compact. It’s the kind of swing that a Perfect Game showcase report once boasted “you can’t help but dream of him hitting 35 HRs in pro ball someday.”
That pitch comes in like a watermelon. The No. 9 hitter whips his bat around, connecting hard with the ball to send it ripping into a spotless June sky. A fan belts out a “Yeaahhhh!” before the baseball bounces in the outfield, smacks
against the outfield wall and rolls around the warning track.
The No. 9 hitter is Josh Vitters. Ten years ago, the Cubs made him the third pick in the MLB draft. He was taken seven spots ahead of future World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.
Vitters is 27 now. He’s playing third base for Sioux City in the Independent League. It’s one of the last outposts for baseball grinders holding on to a dream that is probably dead.
“That’s a really tough go,” said Jim Hendry, the former Cubs GM.
He still looks the part, and that righthanded swing … it’s a beaut. But like so much of his story, appearances are deceiving. Side effects from attention- deficit disorder medication, vision issues, immaturity and injuries derailed his career within the Cubs organization.
Playing Independent ball, the on- field struggles remain pronounced. He’s batting .176 with a .197 on- base percentage.
“I thought I’d be in the big leagues hitting 30 homers a year, but this is where I’m at now, and I know I still have that potential,” Vitters said.
‘ HE’S A FREAK’
John Weber, baseball coach at Cypress High School in the Los Angeles suburbs, first saw that potential when Vitters was a sophomore. “Man, you need to see this guy! He’s a freak,” Weber recalled telling two scouts, who are now with the Kansas City Royals and Colorado Rockies.
As the 2007 draft loomed, the Cubs zeroed in on Vitters. He was a high school All- American, was named Gatorade Player of the Year in California in 2007 and committed to Arizona State.
When the Cubs were up at No. 3, Vitters was their guy. Chicago lured Vitters away from attending Arizona State by giving the 17- year- old a $ 3.2 million signing bonus. Vitters was pegged the future third baseman of the Cubs.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
Vitters became a cornerstone prospect for an organization longing for its first World Series title since 1908. The hope was he would develop into a middle- ofthe- lineup hitter while playing a key in- field spot on defense. Vitters had an upand- down time in the minors — he hit .322 and .284 in 2008 and 2009 before slumping to .247 in his third season.
“We weren’t predicting ( that he’d become a) superstar,” Hendry said. “But we thought we had a solid major league player and a good hitter.”
In 2009, Vitters hit .316 with 15 home runs in 70 games for the Class A Peoria ( Ill.) Chiefs. He advanced through Chicago’s system and played for the Iowa Cubs in 2012, 2013 and 2014 with fellow top prospect Brett Jackson.
Vitters batted .304 in 2011 with the Iowa Cubs. But his star was about to fade — and fast.
In August 2011, Hendry was fired by the Cubs. Two months later, the Cubs, then one of the worst teams in baseball, made a historic splash hire by persuading baseball wunderkind Theo Epstein and his whiz- kid lieutenants to take over the franchise’s front office.
It was make- or- break for Vitters and other Hendry- era prospects.
On Aug. 5, 2012, Vitters was called up to the Chicago Cubs. He was 22. But Vitters was a disaster with the Cubs. In his 36- game MLB stint, he batted .121 ( 12for- 99) with two homers and 33 strike- outs. He made $ 490,000 from that stint, according to Baseball- reference. com.
To start 2013, Vitters was down in Class AAA with the Iowa Cubs. He struggled to stay healthy and landed on the disabled list three times. He appeared in 28 games with Iowa and five as part of a rehab assignment in Arizona. Injuries were a recurring theme of his career. Vitters suffered a broken left hand in 2010 and a broken big toe in 2014, and he dealt with back spasms and thigh muscle issues throughout his career.
In June 2013, Epstein’s Cubs held the No. 2 pick in the draft. They selected Kris Bryant, a slugger out of San Diego.
Vitters was no longer the franchise’s third baseman of the future. The man Epstein just drafted was.
“I think we ( Jackson and him) had a great opportunity,” Vitters said. “We got called up and didn’t take advantage.”
One reason he never blossomed, Vitters thinks, was the side effects he experienced from his ADHD medication. He said he started taking Vyvanse in 2012 or 2013. It made him feel like he was slugging back “15 cups of coffee every day.”
“It was really messing with me,” Vitters said. “I was losing tons of weight, and I was kind of getting depressed and I was having a lot of problems with it.”
The Cubs cut ties with Vitters after the 2014 season. The Colorado Rockies signed him to a minor league contract in February 2015 but released him in March. It looked like his career was over.
“When I ended up getting released from the Rockies, I knew that the best thing for me was to go home, get off all this stuff, get healthy again, and that’s what I did,” Vitters said.
‘ THE BAT SPEED’S STILL THERE’
In March this year, he went to try out with the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, Fla. Vitters bumped into Nate Samson, who had played with Vitters in the Cubs organization. Neither landed a spot within the Tigers organization. Samson, who was coming off his second year with the Explorers, put Vitters in touch with Sioux City skipper Steve Montgomery. Montgomery checked in with the Tigers, who confirmed Vitters still had eyecatching physical skills. Sioux City signed him.
“The bat speed’s still there,” Montgomery said. “It’s big- league bat speed. … It’s just that right now, where he’s struggling is depth perception of pitches right now. He’s out in front of a lot of stuff.”
Vitters recently had his eyes checked in Sioux City. As a young player, Vitters was lauded for his hand- eye coordination, but the eye doctor determined that his vision was off. Vitters was prescribed glasses that he wears during games.
“I made it to the big leagues,” Vitters said. “I don’t think that’s considered a failure really. I’m happy with where I’ve been and what I’ve done, but I’m not content with where I am.”
On this windy Friday evening, less than half of the red- and- blue seats inside Sioux City’s Lewis and Clark Park are filled. The second- inning laser is drilled between the left fielder and center fielder, and the No. 9 hitter sprints around first before jogging to second for a stand- up double.
The crowd cheers for five seconds, then the applause for Josh Vitters dies down.