Jared Young, the Chicago Cubs' player of the month for June, is starting to share the field with bona fide major leaguers. It's a trend likely to continue now that he has been promoted from the Class-A South Bend Cubs to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, who swing the bats at the Class A Advanced level in the Carolina League.
Young played his third game for Myrtle Beach on Monday against the Carolina Mudcats. The game was his first on the Pelicans' home field.
With Myrtle Beach, Young is manning first base. Offensively, he picked up his first RBI with the Pelicans in an 8-7 Sunday loss to the Buies Creek Astros. That came one day after Chicago assigned him to his new club. On Saturday, Young and the Pelicans beat the Astros 4-2.
Young earned his promotion through his stellar play with South Bend of the Midwest League. Back on June 11, he rapped out a hit in the first inning off Jordan Zimmerman, the starting pitcher for the West Michigan Whitecaps, on a rehab assignment from the Detroit Tigers.
That was the same Jordan Zimmerman who threw the first no-hitter in Washington Nationals history four years ago against the Miami Marlins. For Young, the hit came in the second game of what became an 11-game hitting streak.
"That was cool - seeing big-league guys is always awesome because it's a good challenge and it shows you where you're at," said Young.
The brushes with fame got even better for the 22-year-old Prince George native two weeks later when Yu Darvish came to South Bend, Ind., to test out his arm in a Cubs home game June 25 against the Whitecaps.
With Young at first base and Darvish on the mound, the Chicago Cubs starter showed why Chicago signed him in the off-season to a six-year $126 million contract. He mowed down the Whitecaps with a five-pitch first inning and struck out the side in the second. Darvish did give up a solo home run in the third but allowed just three hits in five innings while making 57 pitches, 41 of which were strikes.
"He was in and out pretty quick but it was fun to play first base for him, definitely one of the highlights of my career," said Young, whose locker in spring training in Arizona was right next to that of Darvish.
"He was quiet. He didn't spend much time (in South Bend) but he was great. He bought us our pre-game meal and our post-game meal and couldn't be more professional. It was steak and lobster, mac and cheese, he spared no expense."
Darvish also covered the cost of the post-game meal for the Whitecaps. Midwest Leaguers don't usually get steak and lobster with salaries for single-A level players set at about $1,300 per month.
In 27 games in June, Young hit .340 (34-for-100) with four doubles, two triples, five homers, 27 RBI and a .963 OPS (on base plus slugging percentage). He racked up 27 RBI (tied for first in the Midwest League) and his .963 OPS ranked eighth in the league.
From June 10-23 during his 11-game streak Young batting .341 (15-for-44) with five extra-base hits and nine RBI over that stretch. He drove in 14 runs in the first seven games of the month. Young got the word from Chicago last Thursday he'd been chosen as the organization's minor player of the month.
"It's really cool, I was just happy with how I was playing and to get recognized for that is pretty special," said Young.
"It was a pretty cool month, all in all. There was a lot of highlights, that's for sure."
That same night, Thursday in Bowling Green, Ky., he hit his 10th home run of the season, a solo shot in the third inning, to help the Cubs to a 3-0 road win over the Bowling Green Hot Rods. Young also hit two singles and finished the game batting 3-for-4.
With South Bend, Young was positioned mostly at first base and also played left field and second base.
"I'd never played first base going into this year," said Young. "My first-ever game was opening day and I was pretty nervous. It was something new. But I'm getting more comfortable over there, that's for sure. Everything comes to you and it's definitely a nice spot to be."
Young was drafted by the Cubs in the 15th round in 2017 while playing in the NCAA in Norfolk, Va., for Old Dominion University. He started his pro career in rookie ball last year in the Northwest League playing for the Cubs' affiliate, Eugene Emeralds.
In mid-June this year, Young was one of five Cubs named to the Eastern Division team for the Midwest League all-star game and he played five innings of the game in Lansing.
"That was exciting," said Young. "It's a great honour and I was there with four of my teammates and it was pretty special to share it with them."
Young spent two weeks on the disabled list and missed 13 games in May when he pulled a hamstring but aside from that he hasn't missed a game since the season started in April.
"It's a lot of baseball. We play 140 games. It's no joke," he said.
Young loved being around his South Bend teammates. Last Thursday night, they watched Bull Durham, one of the all-time great sports movies, while on the long bus ride from Kentucky to Michigan.
In a phone call home to his mom Dana in Prince George, Young admitted he couldn't believe how similar their lives as minor leaguers are to that of the fictional Durham Bulls depicted in the movie.
"It's pretty fun, it's a real nice league to play in, tons of great crowds and some great stadiums," he said.
