The Cubs picked Rebel Ridling pretty late in the 2008 draft. Ridling was the Cubs 25th round selection two years ago … and the Cubs might have found themselves a bargain. Ridling had a great start to his pro career. In 2009 at the age of 23, Ridling posted a .310/.357/.466 line for the Peoria Chiefs. Ridling drove in 97 runs and tallied 51 extra base hits including 16 home runs and 34 doubles.
Rebel Ridling is a big guy at 6’4″, 230 pounds with a ton of power … as well as gap power. Rebel isn’t speedster he is a hitter. Last year at Peoria he showed he could hit in clutch situations as demonstrated by his 97 RBI. The VineLine’s “Fifty Names From The Farm” rated Rebel Ridling as the best situational hitter, best power hitter and best clutch hitter in the Cubs’ farm system … and Ridling was rated as having the best range in the Cubs’ system among first basemen.
Ridling needs to show a lot more of that home run power to be considered as a potential starting first baseman down the road. Also at 24 years old and only playing in Daytona (high A), he needs to move a little quicker to be considered a legitimate prospect. Rebel started off the year on the DL because of an appendectomy during spring training. Despite hitting four home runs in his first eight games, he had a poor beginning to the season. Ridling has rebounded well and is hitting .280/.332/.436 with six home runs and 19 doubles. Ridling is likely the Cubs best first base prospect at this point … but he has a lot of work to do.
Full Name: Rebel Ridling
Age: 24 (May 22, 1986)
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 230
Position: First Base
Bats/Throws: R/R
Rebel Ridling’s Page on Baseball-Reference.com
Rebel Ridling’s Page on The Baseball Cube
Rebel Ridling – MiLB.com
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