Ranking the last 10 Chicago Cubs first-round draft picks, from worst to best

The Cubs are on a hot streak in terms of hitting on their first-round draft picks

2024 Chicago Cubs Spring Training
2024 Chicago Cubs Spring Training | Matt Dirksen/GettyImages
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8. LHP Brendon Little: 27th overall in 2017

Brendon Little is another guy who is no longer in the Cubs system after failing to live up to expectations. The southpaw saw flashes of success throughout his seven years, initially as a starter and later a reliever.

But he only features two pitches and, similar to Jensen, Little had severe command issues. A scouting report from 2021 also suggested Little's velocity dipped significantly the longer he was on the mound, effectively cementing him as a bullpen guy long-term. 2023 saw Little make 50 appearances out of the Triple-A bullpen with a 4.05 ERA and 73 strikeouts in as many innings.

In hindsight, Little would provide nice depth as a lefty specialist on the Cubs' current roster. But his stuff was probably not good enough to warrant a 40-man roster spot in the front office's eyes. He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash last offseason, where he made 49 appearances with a 3.74 ERA in 2024.

Although he found success as a lefty specialist in 2024, the fact that the Cubs took him in the first round just shows their previous inability to properly evaluate pitchers.

7. RPH Alex Lange: 30th overall in 2017

Taken just three spots after Little in 2017, Alex Lange has seen much more major-league pitching success than Jensen and Little. Over the last four seasons, Lange sports a 3.72 ERA over 183 2/3 innings pitched, with 221 strikeouts. He has spent his entire MLB career with the Detroit Tigers, however, as he was the main piece in the Nick Castellanos trade in 2019.

The deal was worth it since Castellanos had a thunderous late-season impact on the Cubs that year. Lange eventually emerged as a high-leverage reliever, and he served as Detroit's primary closer in 2023.

It'd be nice for the team to still have Lange on the roster given the team's lack of high-leverage bullpen arms in recent years. But the pick doesn't look like a terrible one, given his emergence at the MLB level and his career still looks fairly promising looking forward.

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