Chicago Cubs: Takeaways from the 2020 MLB Draft

With five rounds of the draft completed, here are some takeaways for the Chicago Cubs. And how these picks will affect the future of the team?

Going into the draft, the Chicago Cubs had specific needs and particular wants. The needs included bullpen help, offensive power, and efficiency in case someone is traded or lost in free agency. Looking into this year’s draft before it happened, the main thing the Cubs needed was the bullpen help because the Cubs last year offensively was great, but without the bullpen power, it is hard to win games late in the season.

Without High School and College baseball seasons, it is hard to know what you drafted. And with a draft of five rounds instead of 40, some adjustments had to be made.

With the Cubs pick at 16 in the first round, the Cubs selected Ed Howard from Mount Carmel High School. This pick adds to the depth that the Cubs have in the middle infield. With Javier Baez, Nico Hoerner, David Bote, and Ian Happ with others switching in and out from the outfield.

Howard will bring the “swag” and electricity to the Cubs that Tim Anderson brought to the White Sox. Howard is a passionate player and is ready to play for the North Side, and all the fans should be excited about his future.

Needing the bullpen help was in the front office’s heads as well as the fans’ heads. In the second, fourth, and fifth-round, the team selected pitchers to help the bullpen. In the second round, the Cubs selected Burl Carraway from Dallas Baptist. Carraway went 6-2 in NCAA play and had an average 3.16 ERA in three seasons of play.

Luke Little was the next pitcher that the Cubs selected. Luke Little is a relief pitcher coming out of San Jacinto College North in Texas Little has a serious fastball that averages in the upper 90s and was once clocked at 105 MPH at practice. He needs help with control and offspeed before maintaining a role in the Cubs bullpen.

Keon Moreno was the last pick for the Cubs in the 2020 draft, and like Howard, Moreno was drafted out of High School. But he was committed to East Carolina. Another mid 90s fastball pitcher but the only pitcher out of the three selected that may have starting potential after going through the steps of the minors.

The team also selected Jordan Nwogu from the University of Michigan. Nwogu is an athletic breed of a baseball player with a great arm and a great bat and great speed. He will quickly become a staple corner outfielder in the farm system in years to come and may replace someone on the MLB squad if someone is traded or signed off in free agency.

The outlook of this draft class has high potential and is exciting to look at. But we will see as the days and seasons go on if these picks pan out the way all Cubs fans want them to.