New prospect rankings give a top Cubs prospect some A+ bulletin board material

Earlier in the week, I touched on the surprise awaiting Chicago Cubs fans who read Keith Law's preseason top 100 prospects list at The Athletic (subscription required). Kevin Alcantara, who many publications have dropped out of their top-100 rankings, led all Cubs prospects for Law - including the likes of Moises Ballesteros, who is expected to play a major role for the big-league club in 2026.

Chicago netted three prospects on Law's list: Alcantara, Ballesteros and young infielder Jefferson Rojas. Notably absent was right-handed pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins, who the Cubs hope will follow in Cade Horton's footsteps and impact their rotation at some point this season.

As if leaving Wiggins off the top-100 wasn't motivation enough for Wiggins to go out and prove himself, Law then penned a piece outlining the prospects who 'just missed' his top-100. And, once again, Wiggins' name was nowhere to be found.

Jaxon Wiggins is coming off a dominant 2026 season in the Cubs' system

The former Arkansas Razorback spent much of the 2025 campaign with Double-A Knoxville, working to a sterling 1.93 ERA in 10 starts with the team. He also tossed 26 1/3 frames of 1.71 ERA ball for High-A South Bend and got his first taste of Triple-A action, making three starts for the I-Cubs to mixed results that included an eye-popping 13 K/9.

All told, Wiggins finished the year with a 2.77 ERA in 78 innings pitched, his single-season high in either his college or pro career. That is likely a contributing factor in Law leaving him off his rankings lists; but as Cubs fans saw with Horton last summer, a controlled work load doesn't mean a guy can't be impactful at the big-league level.

Heading into 2026, Horton only thrown more than 75 innings in a season once - the lone exception being the year he got drafted, when he split the year between A, High-A and Double-A in 2022. After taking some time to settle in after getting the call last spring, the right-hander turned in a Jake Arrieta-like second half, propelling himself to a second-place finish in National League Rookie of the Year voting.

That's not to say Wiggins is going to step in and deliver results of that caliber. But there's no questioning the fact that he's got the stuff to get outs at the big-league level - and, in 2026, he'll have the chance to show he can do it at the highest levels of the minors and, hopefully, at Wrigley Field.