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The Chicago Cubs rolled the dice when they selected Wake Forest outfielder Ethan Conrad with the #17 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. A left shoulder dislocation and labrum tear abruptly ended his junior season, but Jed Hoyer and the front office felt good enough about his tools that they bet on the future.
Conrad's 2026 season got off to an inauspicious start that raised some serious red flags. A lower back stress fracture suffered during spring training wound up sidelining him for three months and he finally made his professional debut in June. The bulk of his shortened season came with Class-A Myrtle Beach, where he slashed .245/.325/.436 in 123 plate appearances.
The Cubs still promoted him to High-A South Bend, and he got into five games there, battling an undisclosed injury that shelved him for a few weeks. In short, Conrad has a lot to prove on the health front in 2027 given how the last 18 or so months have gone for him in that regard.
The good news? He was recently spotted working out with 2026 draftee and former Florida State standout Myles Bailey in Arizona as he looks to get ready for next season.
The Cubs selected @Mbizzel7 with their compensation pick in the 2026 for losing Kyle Tucker to Free Agency. Myles is coming off a leg injury and was doing some conditioning work with Ethan Conrad in Fall Instructs. #Cubs pic.twitter.com/1lBkokfeV4
— Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22) October 29, 2026
Cubs, prospect evaluators remain high on Ethan Conrad's potential
Despite the injuries, there doesn't seem to be much souring on Conrad and his skillset. MLB Pipeline has the 22-year-old outfielder as the Cubs' third-ranked prospect and Baseball America pegs him at #5. Between Conrad, Josiah Hartshorn and Kane Kepley, the farm system has a lot of high-potential outfield talents.
That's good, because at the big-league level, the Cubs face some major questions in the outfield. Pete Crow-Armstrong's six-year extension kicks in next year, but the corner spots are currently vacant with Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ set to hit free agency. Knowing this talent is coming, I wonder if we'll see Hoyer focus on short-term adds in those spots, rather than going to five years on someone like Suzuki or Randy Arozarena.
The hope, obviously, is that somehwere in this prospect group, long-term answers emerge. When it comes to Conrad, though, it's about putting together an injury-free 2027. One step at a time.
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