Cubs Dominican prospect Lake hopes to join Dominican baseball player Starlin Castro on Cubs roster

Starlin Castro has progressed faster than pretty much any prospect ever.  He was an everyday player at age 20.  This is a few times in a generation anomaly in baseball.  Ken Griffey, Jr. and Barry Bonds were able to do it, but only one or two players every year make an impact like Castro has made at the age of 20.

Junior Lake hopes to join his long time friend in the big leagues soon.  The Dominican Baseball Guy has been hearing about Lake for several years.  Castro and Lake grew up together, both playing in the Cubs Dominican baseball academy in 2007.  They then made the move to the states and played for the Cubs rookie ball team together.

But Castro matured faster and caught on with the big league club in just his second year with the organization.  He has hit .300 both years, and is a plus defender.  Lake remains in the Cubs minor league system, and had a good year at AA last year.  Junior Lake is one of the top prospects in all of minor league baseball.

Lake hopes to play with Castro in the majors some day soon.  They have a mutual respect for each other, and both feel that Lake can play on the major league level.  Most in the Cubs organization and in the rest of major league baseball seem to agree.  The only question is when Junior Lake will become a Cub.

Lake says he hopes to make the jump from AA to the majors this season.  Junior Lake is from San Pedro de Macoris, Republica Dominicana.  Castro is from Monte Cristi.

Dominican baseball player Junior Lake hopes to join the Cubs this year, photo by  Tom Haggerty for LakelandLocal.com

Cubs top minor leaguers features 5 Dominican prospects

A recent article listed the top 30 Cubs prospects going into the 2012 season.  Five of the Cubs top 30 minor leaguers are Dominican players.

The highest rated Dominican prospect in the Cubs system is Junior Lake .  Lake is close with fellow Cubs Dominican player Starlin Castro and hopes to join Castro with the Cubs this year.  He has hit .300 in both of his two years in the Cubs system, and hopes to make the jump from AA to the big leagues this year.  According to the list, Lake is the number nine overall prospect in the Cubs system.  Lake is from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic.

The other top Dominican prospects in the Cubs system were Jeimer Candelario, Marco Hernandez, Wellington Castillo, Rafael Dollis.

Dominican baseball player Junior Lake is the Cubs top Dominican prospect, photo by  Tom Hagerty for LakelandLocal.com