Editor's Note: Sean Carey is a good friend of Justin and I, and is incredibly knowledgeable about the Cubs' farm system. And we haven't had very much Cubs minor league talk on here, so we asked him if he'd like to come aboard to educate you about some of the Cubs' prospects. He was kind enough to accept our offer, and we hope you'll enjoy his prospect analysis as much as we do.

If there were an award in the Cubs minor league system for breakout player of the year, Justin Bour may have already taken ownership with only half of a season in the books. He’s starting to turn heads and gives the Cubs a source of power in the system; an attribute they seem to be lacking.

Bour (pronounced with a long ‘o’ sound: bore) tapped into his power potential at high-A Daytona this year. Since being drafted by the Cubs in the 25th round of the 2009 draft, power has been the one question mark in the George Mason product’s repertoire. Not exactly what you would expect from a 6’4", 250-pound first baseman.

He has accumulated numbers that highlight his ability to hit to all fields, as well as take free passes. Prior to 2011, Bour smacked 200 hits and took 83 walks in 815 plate appearances. The power numbers did not show up in his box scores though. His slugging percentage has been much improved this year to the tune of 38 extra-base hits. He’s only six shy of his last year’s mark.

“I've been working on my swing with the hitting instructors and we both know that the home runs will come, I just need to tone my swing to where it needs to be," Bour said in an August 2009 interview.

Clearly, his hitting ability is only rivaled by his clairvoyance. With 17 home runs so far, Bour has impressed many in his most recent year of minor league play.

He needs to have a more extended period of success to prove his critics wrong though. Many believe that he doesn’t bring much to the table as a 23-year-old in high-A ball. If he can extend his production to the end of the season though, he could work his way into the Cubs' top 10 prospects. A promotion to Double-A, followed by relative success, would certainly help to force the spotlight upon him.

The one area for concern seems to be Bour’s ability against lefties. While most left-handed sluggers do tend to struggle against lefties, Bour has had an incredibly rough time this year, sitting at about a .500 OPS for the year against them.

We should all be hoping that Bour is never needed to fill in at first base. The names the Cubs have lined up as potential replacements for Carlos Pena (Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols) would both be excellent additions this off-season.

Still, Bour seems to be a great backup plan, and could be a helpful trade piece down the line at least.

Get The Latest Blogfines Updates By Following Us On Twitter.