?Kevin Alcantara? has a nickname for himself. ¡°The Jaguar.¡±

His hitting coach might have coined another. ¡°Entertainment.¡±

Whatever you call him, the No. 7 Cubs prospect was a star on Sunday. Alcantara homered twice among his four hits, drove in eight runs, reached five times and piled up 12 total bases as Single-A Myrtle Beach routed Carolina, 15-6. The win made the Pelicans the first team in the Minors to 40 wins in 2022.

¡°He came up with that,¡± Myrtle Beach hitting coach Steven Pollakov said of Alcantara¡¯s self-bestowed nickname. ¡°He¡¯s got those long legs, and he¡¯s calm, and when he wants to attack, he attacks. He¡¯s the Jaguar.¡±

Alcantara¡¯s play in his debut full-season campaign has made the Cubs organization take notice, and Sunday was just the latest example. The 19-year-old outfielder twice belted three-run homers off the scoreboard in left-center, once in the third and once in the seventh. The latter left Alcantara¡¯s bat at 103 miles per hour and traveled an estimated 404 feet, according to Carolina¡¯s broadcast.

He added a two-run triple to right as part of Myrtle Beach¡¯s five-run first inning, a single up the middle in the second and reached on a throwing error charged to Mudcats third baseman Jheremy Vargas in the ninth.

¡°He himself is entertainment,¡± Pollakov said. ¡°Every time he¡¯s on the field, you expect something spectacular. It¡¯s that simple. Whether it¡¯s hitting balls off scoreboards, whether it¡¯s making a diving catch or whether it¡¯s empowering his teammates or interacting with the fans, this kid is everything fans are going to want to see at Wrigley on a daily basis.¡±

Alcantara¡¯s monster day, his first multihomer game as a pro, pushed his hitting streak to eight and gave the outfielder his first four-hit game since July 6, 2019 with the Rookie-level GCL Yankees East.

¡°He drives the ball,¡± Pollakov said. ¡°Whether he¡¯s in the leadoff spot, hitting third, fourth, it doesn¡¯t matter where he is in the lineup. He¡¯s going to mush baseballs. That¡¯s what he does, and that¡¯s what he did today.

¡°He¡¯s done a great job of really showing teams that he can hit the fastball no matter where it is, no matter what velocity it is, so he¡¯s been getting a heavy dose of sliders. He¡¯s been showing now he can not only spit on the bad ones but also destroy the ones that he has a chance to do damage on.¡±

It was another step in Alcantara¡¯s surging development at the plate. Since batting .224/.333/.345 in April, the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native has hit .304/.371/.587 in 24 May games and sits at .326/.420/.651 through 11 in June.

¡°I think that¡¯s him just getting used to what it¡¯s like in the full-season grind with regard to the work it requires day-in and day-out, how to take care of himself, getting after it in the gym and really just getting his feet fully under him in what it takes to be an everyday star which he¡¯s capable of being. We¡¯re seeing that."

Pollakov noted the Pelicans¡¯ 2022 mantra is ¡°Birds to the moon,¡± and Myrtle Beach has played like it, reaching 40 wins in 57 games. Alcantara has been a driving force and helped engineer an offensive outburst that notched 14 hits and nine walks on Sunday. When serving as the Pelicans¡¯ cleanup hitter like he did Sunday, Alcantara is batting .297/.393/.653 with eight homers and 31 RBIs.

¡°This is what positive development looks like,¡± the hitting coach said. ¡°When you have superstar potential with superstar development, it manifests, and we¡¯re blessed to witness it right now. For Kevin, it¡¯s going to be just continuing to play chess in how pitchers are continuing to try to get him out. Obviously he¡¯s very difficult to get out, so it¡¯s just that ongoing chess game.¡±

Acquired by the Cubs as part of the deal that sent Anthony Rizzo to the Yankees last July, the 6-foot-6, athletic outfielder has the profile scouts dream about. Now, he¡¯s putting together the resume to back it up.

¡°He has extremely high expectations of himself,¡± Pollakov said. ¡°He knows what he¡¯s capable of, and we know what he¡¯s capable of. We hold him to the highest standard, and he appreciates that and embraces that, and he also holds himself to that standard. When you put those together, you get greatness.¡±