Chicago Cubs News: Prospect Jordan Nwogu getting hot in Myrtle Beach

As the Chicago Cubs organization shifts focus to the future, ideally the farm system will produce some MLB-caliber power hitters. Outfielder Jordan Nwogu was taken by the Cubs in the third round of the 2020 draft out of Michigan to add another power-hitting prospect to the farm.

The 22-year-old from Canada is currently ranked the team’s 27th prospect by MLB.com and the 36th by FanGraphs. After a slow start to his professional career, he has looked better the past month and can hopefully continue to grow.

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Heading into Friday, Nwogu has a grand total of 47 games played at the professional level, all with Low-A Myrtle Beach. In those 47 games he slashed .200/.298/.373 with an 84 wRC+, six home runs, seven stolen bases and 20 RBI. His 58 strikeouts equate to a 33.9 percent strikeout rate. One can look at that slash and conclude he has been off to a bad start so far in the minors, but it is worth looking at his more recent work.

July has seen much better production come from Nwogu’s bat. From July 1 through July 22 (19 games), Nwogu hit .274/.357/.581 with four home runs, three doubles, two triples and a .938 OPS. His hot month to date has moved him up to being tied for sixth in home runs by an outfielder in the Low-A East. He only had two home runs in his first 33 games and now a surge is being seen. If he keeps this up he can continue to climb that ranking.

Chicago Cubs: Jordan Nwogu – future big league power hitter?

Nwogu has displayed his abilities very effectively the past few weeks, which includes hitting the ball with authority and being able to spray it all over the ballpark. At 6’3″, 230 lbs the kid has a ton of pop in his bat and when he connects the ball explodes off his bat. He hit 20 home runs in 525 career NCAA at bats and put up a .976 OPS in his time with the Wolverines.

There is still some work to be done and is still considered fairly raw, as he was when he was drafted according to Keith Law back in 2020. That said, the upside is starting to show. If he finishes the year off on a strong note, then it will make the Cubs feel pretty good about him since he has such little experience professionally.

As of right now, his ETA for the Majors is potentially around 2023. Since he played in college he is a bit older than some of the other notable prospects in the system like Ed Howard, Brennen Davis, Brailyn Marquez and Christian Hernandez. So if he does rise through the ranks and proves to be an MLB-level talent, he will probably be in his mid-20s when he arrives.