Cubs' 2025 draft pick just received national endorsement that's impossible to ignore

July only just started, but it's already been a banner month for Josiah Hartshorn.

First, the top prospect made waves by earning a selection to the All-Star Futures Game, joining fellow Chicago Cubs prospect Mason McGwire as the team's representatives at the annual talent showcase. It's a huge honor for the 2025 draft pick, especially considering he's a 19-year-old in his first pro season.

Then, Baseball America released their updated top prospect rankings, and Hartshorn had to be over the moon with his placement: He's now the No. 29 overall prospect in baseball according to the outlet.

Previously, BA had him ranked 64th overall, meaning his 35-spot jump is the largest in this edition of the rankings. He's now in competition with Jefferson Rojas for the top overall spot in the system, whcih should make for an exciting storyline to follow during the season's second half.

Josiah Hartshorn is making a legitimate case to be Cubs' top overall prospect

Hartshorn's breakout this year has been well-documented, though it bears repeating that he's a 19-year-old kid playing in his first-ever season in pro ball. Especially for a sixth-round pick, rises this meteoric usually take at least a little time to gestate.

Alas, he's already forced the issue with a promotion to High-A South Bend, and the increased level of competition hasn't slowed him down at all. He's hitting .304/.373/.607 (136 wRC+) through his first month and change there, following up a 147 wRC+ performance in Myrtle Beach at the start of the year.

Literally everything about his game has been impressive, from huge power numbers (14 homers in 70 games, .526 slugging percentage) to some impressive speed (eight steals) and even elite plate discipline (14.8% walk rate, 18.3% strikeout rate). Getting a nod to the Futures Game is basically a guarantee with numbers like those.

That's also an impressive lineage Hartshorn will be joining, as the Cubs have sent recent top prospects Owen Caissie, Moises Ballesteros, Kris Bryant, and Javier Báez to the event as well. Obviously, making the de facto Minor League All-Star Game isn't a guarantee that your career will pan out, but it is a sign that you belong among the game's top prospects.

Barring a slow start to the second half, Hartshorn should find himself in Double-A Knoxville at some point before the end of the campaign. That would put his MLB ETA around late-2027, though it's impossible to count out an even earlier debut given how much helium is rising through his prospect stock these days.

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