Earlier in the season, the Chicago Cubs began to call up some of their top prospects that they have either drafted or acquired via trade in recent years to give them all a chance to learn how to play in the Major Leagues. The Cubs have one of the top-rated farm systems in the Majors, and those players have begun -- little by little -- making their ways to Wrigley Field.

The call-ups give the players a glimpse into the Major League life with little pressure to win now since the Cubs are well out of the pennant race. Now is the time for them to get the butterflies out, get their first tastes of Major-League pitching, enjoy success, and learn from failure. The call-ups also give the fans a glimpse into the near future, which looks quite impressive. 

First, Arismendy Alcantara quickly impressed the Cubs enough for them to trade away both second baseman Darwin Barney and center fielder Emilio Bonifacio (along with reliever James Russell) as well as release right fielder Nate Schierholtz. Second baseman Javier Baez soon followed, hitting four home runs in his first 12 games, including a game-winner in his MLB debut. In addition, pitcher Kyle Hendricks has found himself in the Majors, and he looks like a seasoned veteran so far. Hendricks has responded with a 4-1 record, a 1.73 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP in his first six Major League games.

The Cubs added another one of their hottest prospects to the active roster Sunday afternoon. MLB.com's Carrie Muskat reports that the Cubs have called up outfielder Matt Szczur from Triple-A Iowa, and although he is not in the starting lineup, he is active and available as the Cubs play the series finale with the New York Mets.

#Cubs today recalled OF Matt Szczur from @IowaCubs and optioned RHP Dan Straily to Iowa. Szczur is available for today's game in New York.

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 17, 2014

With the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, Szczur was hitting .261/.315/.312 with 1 HR and 24 RBI in 116 games. Power is not his game, but speed is, and the Cubs have lacked a legitimate base-stealing threat for quite some time. Szczur stole 30 bases in Triple-A. As a team, the Cubs have stolen 49 bases through August 16 (122 games), good for 12th in the National League. Team leader Bonifacio went to Atlanta on July 31 and took his 14 stolen bases in 69 Cubs games with him. Szczur also scored 52 runs, which would rank him second on the Cubs.

Muskat quoted Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer discussing the decision to promote Szczur to the big club during an interview Saturday. Said Hoyer,

"We talked for a long time about the move and how it fits with our team now and how it might fit in with some of the things that might happen going forward."

The Cubs still have a large number of highly-rated prospects still to make their Major League debuts. Their current #1 prospect, Kris Bryant, is tearing up the Minors with totals of .333/.440/.678, 40 HR, 103 RBI, and 15 SB in 124 games split between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa. Unfortunately, though, he has injured a toe and is awaiting results of his Sunday morning MRI. 

The Cubs also have prospects such as Addison Russell, Jorge Soler, Albert Almora, and Kyle Schwarber in the field as well a C.J. Edwards and Arodys Vizcaino on the mound. All could make their debuts either in this year's September roster expansion or early in 2015. They will join the core of Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Welington Castillo, Jake Arrieta, Tsuyoshi Wada, and Jacob Turner as the Cubs start to play their young guns more regularly.

The Cubs had outfielder Junior Lake on the Major League roster since mid-season last year, but they returned him to Triple-A Saturday to work out some struggles. Lake was hitting just .216 on the season. Muskat says that he will return to the Majors when the Cubs expand the roster on September 1. 

When they took over before the 2012 season, Hoyer and team president Theo Epstein promised Cub fans that they would see a winner in Wrigley Field within a few years. The prospect parade has begun; it took another step Sunday, and it will continue until the Cubs make that promise come true.