Polarizing 2025 Cubs draft pick finally nearing long-awaited organizational debut

While the big-league Chicago Cubs have left much to be desired in 2026, the farm system is having the year it desperately needed. Trades and promotions had the organization entering the year ranked 23rd overall by MLB, with Moises Ballesteros and Jaxon Wiggins as their lone top-100 prospects. Since then, Jefferson Rojas has put together a fantastic season to re-solidify himself as one of their best young talents, Owen Ayers has broken out in a big way, and Josiah Hartshorn has emerged as a potential phenom. That's without mentioning Kane Kepley, Kaleb Wing, and other encouraging stories from the minors.

Less encouraging, however, has been the Cubs' first-round pick from 2025, Ethan Conrad. Selected out of Wake Forest at #17 overall, the left-handed outfielder still has yet to make his organizational debut, between shoulder surgery last season and a back injury that has sidelined him since spring. Hopes were initially that he'd only miss the first month of the minor league season, but it wasn't meant to be.

There's little doubt that Conrad is talented. He matches the profile of the type of polished college hitter the Cubs have had a ton of success with of late, like Matt Shaw and Cam Smith. In his shortened run at Wake Forest, he was on pace to shatter his career bests and showed eye-popping power with a still-impressive contact rate in the zone, slashing .372/.495/.744 with seven homers in just 80 plate appearances. The question remains, though, if he'll be healthy enough to show those tools off in the minors. Fortunately, we may finally get a chance to see.

In a recent rundown of Cubs news across the organization, Sahadev Sharma wrote at The Atheltic that he's finally set to take live batting practice in Arizona this week. Should all go well, some in-game action in the Arizona Complex League isn't out of the question as soon as later this week or next. Considering how important he may be to the long-term outlook of the farm system, that's exciting news and a potential opportunity to make up for a bit of lost time to start his Cubs career.

Conrad's far enough behind the eight ball at this point that the assumption shouldn't be for a rise like that of Shaw or Smith. Nonetheless, if the power is real and his improvements at Wake Forest translate to professional baseball, he's bound to have a spot to play in Chicago when it comes time. Beyond his bat, the defense has also earned plenty of praise, with his speed earning an above-average 55 grade and his fielding at a future value of 45 out of 80. The hope is that one day he could man one of the corner outfield spots beside Pete Crow-Armstrong.

The Cubs will need their outfield prospects to contribute soon

The Cubs will need something sooner than "one day," though. Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki are both due to be free agents after this season, and the chance of one, let alone both, returning is in question. Given their ages, they're especially unlikely to be long-term solutions, even if they return to Chicago. Shaw's adjustment to the outfield and improvement at the plate are positioning him as an option to take one of the two spots full-time starting next year, but that still leaves a spot open.

Yet, Conrad's delayed start doesn't feel nearly as bad due to the leaps taken by Hartshorn and Kepley. Hartshorn, especially, could find himself in the majors much quicker than expected given how thoroughly he's destroyed Low and High-A so far with a .302/.421/.559 slash line, 13 home runs, and just a 17.5% strikeout rate between both levels. They've certainly given more options and hope for a system that lacked high-end talent and has seen a fair few higher-profile names, like Kevin Alcantara, fall out of favor.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow