Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
One of the all-time hitting leaders for the Reno Aces, Zach Borenstein, has an opportunity to play with a big-league team from his home state.
The Chicago Cubs signed the 28-year-old left fielder from Illinois to a minor league contract on Wednesday. The transaction was reported on twitter by Matt Eddy of Baseball America.
A left-handed batter, Borenstein played with the Aces in 2014 through 2017 during his eight seasons in the minor leagues. His 280 games in an Aces uniform are the third most in the team’s history. He is fourth in hits (278) and home runs (38), fifth in RBIs (166) and sixth in triples (13).
Last season, Borenstein had 20 home runs and 90 RBIs for the Las Vegas 51s, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets.
Borenstein has good speed, with 66 stolen bases in his eight minor league seasons. He has good power with 127 minor league home runs with 554 RBIs. But he’s struck out 493 times in 1,657 at bats in his five years in Triple-A. He’s never played in the majors.
Borenstein is from Arlington Heights, Illinois, and he went to college at Eastern Illinois.
The Cubs outfield returns left fielder Kyle Schwarber, who like Borenstein bats left-handed, and fellow starters Jason Heyward and Albert Almora Jr. Ian Happ is a reserve and infielders Ben Zobrist and Kris Bryant sometimes play in the outfield. Chicago’s 40-man roster also includes outfielders Johnny Field and Mark Zagunis, who both bat right-handed.
— Tim Parsons
