Cubs pitchers and catchers report one week from today, so right now seems like an ideal time to update my top prospect list, going 30 names deep (plus a few honorable mentions).

My rankings include only players that have made their full-season debut. So much of my evaluations come from watching the way they move on the diamond and from detailed public data, often at a pitch-by-pitch level of specificity, neither of which I can get from guys playing in either the Arizona Complex League or Dominican Summer League.

Unfortunately that means there are a few notable omissions – Ethan Conrad and Josiah Hartshorn among them. The Cubs would typically have their first round pick hitter debut the season they got drafted, but due to his return from a shoulder injury, Conrad never actually suited up for an affiliate in 2025. Once he does, you can expect him to be a top five prospect in the system. As for Hartshorn, the buzz around him since draft day has gotten louder and louder. If he can start the year in Myrtle Beach (a big ask for a high school pick from last year’s class), he’ll likely quickly jump into the top 10.

I’d be remiss not to mention the three prospects the Cubs traded away this offseason to the Marlins for Edward Cabrera: Owen Caissie, Cristian Hernandez, and Edgardo De Leon. While the latter wouldn’t have cracked my list here since he hasn’t played in full-season ball, Hernandez was ranked 11th prior to the trade and Caissie was slotted in at No. 3.

The depth in this system is simply not what it once was, both in reference to the players ranked in the 20 to 40 range, but also immediately following the top 100-type players at the tip top. Once you get down past essentially No. 5 and definitely past No. 11, there is so little margin between the prospects and it really and truly becomes a “pick your favorite” scenario. I’ve picked mine below, and hope you don’t get mad I didn’t include your fav a few slots higher.

The ranking will be divided up into four separate tiers, with descriptions of the tiers below:

Tier 1: Successful development means everyday Major League players

Tier 2: Successful development means back-end starters, impact or bulk relievers, or bench bats

Tier 3: Successful development means MLB depth or one strong MLB season

Tier 4: Plenty that catches my eye, but lots has to go right to find MLB success

Now let’s get to it!

Tier 1

1. Jaxon Wiggins | RHP, Triple-A Iowa

Wiggins is my number one prospect in the organization and head and shoulders above the next best pitcher. His stuff is very clearly Major League ready: a 100 MPH fastball with lots of ride and extension, a nasty slider, real solid changeup, and developing curveball. For the Cubs to produce Cade Horton and Wiggins in back-to-back seasons after practically nothing for years is equal parts hilarious and amazing. You’ll see chatter about reliever risk, but nothing I saw from Wiggins last year indicates we should even be remotely worried about that outcome. If Wiggins ultimately needs to go the reliever route, it’s because he took a significant step backwards to look more like the 2024 version of himself. He is trending perfectly in line with a first half of the season in Iowa to prove his breakout last year wasn’t a fluke, a promotion to Chicago midseason, and domination the entire time.

2. Moises Ballesteros | 1B/C, Chicago

I was really struggling when trying to compare Moises with Owen Caissie, and thankfully the Cubs took care of that dilemma for me. Let’s get this out of the way: I don’t think Ballesteros is a catcher — now or in the future. But I do think he’s one of the more natural hitters I’ve seen during my time covering Cubs prospects. His ability to not only put bat on ball, but find a barrel, is unique. This past season, he raised both his average and max exit velocities along with his hard hit percentage. Oh, and he did it while also decreasing his whiff% and K%. I could see Bally as a perennial 125 wRC+ guy, with enough growth and flexibility in his game at the plate to limit slumps — whether it’s leaning into a bat-on-ball approach, drawing walks, or tapping into more pull-side power as needed.

3. Jefferson Rojas | SS/2B, Double-A Knoxville

It was a rough go of it in his 39 Double-A games, but he treated his repeat of High-A at the beginning of the year exactly like we had hoped. There is still a unique blend of bat-to-ball with overall athleticism here and he won’t be able to legally drink by the time Opening Day rolls around. No need to get prospect fatigue with Rojas — he is still clearly in that Top 100-200 range in all of baseball.

4. Kevin Alcántara | OF, Chicago

I could probably just copy and paste what I’ve written for The Jaguar the past three seasons. We know exactly what to expect entering the 2026 campaign: a slow start followed by a red hot summer, lots of hard hit baseballs, freak athleticism, an extreme inability to hit sliders, and not enough balls hit pull-side in the air. Nelson Velazquez gave way to a better version of himself in Alexander Canario and Canario gave way to a better version of himself in Alcántara.

Tier 2

5. Jonathon Long | 1B, Triple-A Iowa

There are LOTS similarities between Long and Moises Ballesteros: both defensively limited to first base (although we can hold our hope there’s more flexibility there), and both hit the ball very hard yet lead a contact-over-power approach due to an inability to pull the ball in the air. The reason Long ranks lower is because the eye test tells me Moises can continue to limit the strikeouts an extreme amount while developing more in-game power while I’m less confident in Long doing so.

6. James Triantos | 2B/CF, Triple-A Iowa

Bad year for Triantos in 2025. No way around it, unfortunately. Everything was pretty much worse case scenario for him — the power didn’t develop and he swung at just about everything, producing weak contact both on pitches out of the zone and pitcher’s pitches in the zone. There’s still an MLB utilityman in this profile and the Cubs were confident enough in his pedigree to add him to the 40-man roster. That 9th percentile O-Swing% is gonna have to improve though.

7. Pedro Ramirez | 2B/3B, Double-A Knoxville

I was pleasantly surprised to see Pedro take home a minor league Gold Glove award for his work at third base this past season. That skill could push him over the edge in what is going to be a direct competition with Triantos for the bench bat shuttle man over the next couple years. I can’t see the Cubs carrying both dudes on their roster for more than this season, and the age argument (entering his age-22 season) no longer matters now that he’s on the 40-man. I like Pedro, I really do. But I continue to be one of the bigger doubters of him in the prospecting community.

8. Kane Kepley | OF, Single-A Myrtle Beach

We’ve made it to your favorite player to watch in the organization. Kepley is an absolute menace on the field and his skills reflect that. We’re talking high-contact, high-walk, plus CF defense, and speed for days. As which is typically the case with players of this profile (Brett Bateman, DJ Wilson, DJ Artis, Charcer Burks), he’ll need to produce enough pop to continue to keep pitchers on their toes. If he can’t punish mistake pitches in Double-A or higher, then pitchers will challenge him more and more and the walks will diminish, sapping a good chunk of his offensive value.

9. Angel Cepeda | SS, Single-A Myrtle Beach

We’ll call Cepeda’s second half of 2025 a “local” breakout — one that was widely recognized by Cubs prospect followers and enough to put him in my top 10. I was most impressed with Cepeda’s ability to turn and elevate on pitches, especially in the ocean air at Pelicans Park. The whiff was still way too high and he’ll need to cut that down fairly drastically for his breakout to become more “national.”

Tier 3

10. Brandon Birdsell | RHP, Triple-A Iowa

I’ll admit I had Birdie further down this list in my first draft. It’s just really tough to evaluate a player that’ll likely miss most of 2026 and return in 2027 amidst his age-27 season, having missed essentially the last two years. But in reality, his age vs. MLB timeline isn’t all that different than any of the pitchers I have listed below him and there still isn’t a pitcher I have more confidence in succeeding when he’s healthy than Birdsell (non-Wiggins division).

CUBS ON DECK: WATCH BRANDON BIRDSELL’S INTERVIEW

11. Grant Kipp | RHP, Double-A Knoxville

He’s a spin rate stud. I’m really excited to get a look at the Statcast metrics on Kipp’s pitches this year in Triple-A. If we’re talking Craig Counsell’s language of out-getters, no one matches that quite like the former undrafted free agent out of Yale. There’s an extremely wide range of outcomes for Kipp between now and this time next year — MLB starts under his belt, conversion to a single-inning reliever, hasn’t even made it past Double-A — this is gonna be a fun season to watch.

12. Erian Rodriguez | RHP, Double-A Knoxville

Statistically, 2025 was the best season we’ve seen from Rodriguez. Slated for a no-doubt spot in the Double-A rotation, he enters his minor league free agent walk year having been passed over twice in the Rule 5 Draft now. I’d love to see an uptick in pure stuff over the offseason but it’ll be hard to argue with a sub-3.50 ERA in the upper levels of the minors this year.

13. Nick Dean | RHP, Double-A Knoxville

I’ve never been so impressed by a pitcher with a 5.43 ERA. He posted the best K%-BB% in the system at 20.4%, even better than some guy named Wiggins. He got plenty of whiffs, logging a VERY impressive 31.4% CSW, and I think his changeup is one of the best in the organization. The thing that stands out the most is his .358 BABIP, which could oftentimes be a product of giving up hard contact, but his 87 MPH average exit velo says that he’s not too bad in that regard. I’m gonna chalk it up to some bad luck and say Dean is my breakout pick for the 2026 season.

14. Cole Mathis | 1B, Single-A Myrtle Beach

You’re looking at the single most difficult player to rank in the entire system. We’re talking about a former 2nd round pick, coming off his first full season in pro ball. He missed lots of time because of rehab from Tommy John and then more injuries, spent his time healthy in a league he’s too old for but is hard to hit in, and was merely fine when he actually did play. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Mathis and can’t say he’s been bad — I just need to see more. Grade: incomplete.

15. Will Sanders | RHP, Triple-A Iowa

What I said back in July’s version of my list still rings true: Sanders’ pitch movement needs to take the next step. The cutter needs to go from off the end of the bat to out of the reach of a righty hitter. The heater needs to carry even more above the zone. The splinker needs to touch dirt. If he can do that, the Cubs have a serious back-end starter on their hands. He made a huge jump in development last offseason and I’m hoping he’s done the same this winter.

16. Owen Ayers | C, Single-A Myrtle Beach

I was already awfully high on Ayers back at the midseason update of this list, despite being only a bit better than league-average at the plate and being considerably older than his peers. But it was a combination of that athleticism both at the plate and behind it, along with putting together arguably the best performance of any hitter in the Arizona Fall League that forced him up these rankings. He mentioned on the pod a few weeks ago that so much of his success at the plate came from a change in mindset and attack strategy and I think we could see him tap into even more power this season. A super hot start in South Bend could mean Ayers gets one of the first promotions this summer up to Double-A.

CUBS ON DECK: WATCH OWEN AYERS’ INTERVIEW

17. Riley Martin | LHP, Triple-A Iowa

You’re looking at the best relief prospect in the organization. He was so good, in fact, that he was added to the 40-man roster this offseason. Riley improved both his control and fastball velo  as the season wore on (a combo you very rarely see) and if we see even greater improvements on that front this year, his fastball/curveball combination is good enough to log leverage innings in Chicago this season.

CUBS ON DECK: WATCH RILEY MARTIN’S INTERVIEW

18. Connor Noland | RHP, Triple-A Iowa

Noland is a new-age crafty righty, without a pitch that jumps off the page but a track record of success in Iowa. He brings a competitive edge and a deep pitch mix that has steadily improved since his Arkansas days. As it sits right now, Noland is probably the tenth starting pitcher on the org’s depth chart, a role that seems distant but is pretty critical to the health of a big league team.

CUBS ON DECK: WATCH CONNOR NOLAND’S INTERVIEW

Tier 4

19. Ethan Flanagan | LHP, Single-A Myrtle Beach

Flanagan grew up a Cubs fan, with his grandparents hailing from the Windy City, so that gives us even more reason to root for him. He had a miniature breakout in 2025 that only prospect nerds noticed, but I’m thinking we could see a further breakout in 2026 beginning in South Bend and forcing his way up to Knoxville. He should be a popular pick to stand out in the “who is the next best pitching prospect after Wiggins” grouping.

20. Kade Snell | OF, High-A South Bend

Kade has an outrageous track record of success in college baseball, winning national player of the year during his time at Juco and following that up with awards galore at Alabama. I’m getting some Cole Roederer vibes from him, and falling into a tweener corner outfield profile is a concern. But the stolen base numbers should tick up significantly from his college days (he explained why on the pod) and I think the bat-to-ball skills are presently good enough that he can attempt to tap into more power with his added strength from this offseason.

CUBS ON DECK: WATCH KADE SNELL’S INTERVIEW

21. Matt Halbach | 1B/3B, Single-A Myrtle Beach

When I ran my list by some folks, Halbach here at 21 was the ranking that got the most reaction. His second half in Myrtle was significantly better than his first (110 wRC+ to 124 wRC+). I know it’s a cop out, but I just really dig how the swing looks. I think he can do damage in South Bend and Knoxville this season and actually think there’s just enough athleticism in there where he doesn’t have to be destined for first base..

22. Tyler Schlaffer | RHP, Double-A Knoxville

Schlaffer is back with the Cubs organization after signing a successor contract to avoid hitting the minor league free agency market. It’s not often I get the chance to rank guys that were set to hit MiLB free agency, but it’s not often we see a guy starting to break out six full years after being drafted. The stuff is good, the bulldog mentality is great, and now we hope the injury luck sways back his way.

23. JP Wheat | RHP, Single-A Myrtle Beach

It’s hard to rank a 23 year old with a 6 next to his BB/9 number (as the lowest of his career) in a Top 30, but it’s impossible to keep a guy popping 102 on the gun off a Top 30. Down here, much of the list becomes where you choose the guy you think could break out in a big way or has loud stuff, and Wheat fits both of those descriptors.

24. Pierce Coppola | LHP, Single-A Myrtle Beach

I’ve been pretty vocal that Coppola is my No. 1 breakout pick for the 2026 campaign. He’s a 6-foot-8 lefty with an abnormal arm slot without many college innings under his belt in the SEC (49.1 in three seasons). He racked up two strikeouts per inning during the ‘25 season at Florida and I think he could dominate the lower levels in the Cubs system. The big question will be the walk rates when he begins to face more patient hitters in the upper levels, likely in 2027.

25. Ty Southisene | 2B, Single-A Myrtle Beach

The 5-foot-9 (generous) Southisene is top five in the system at three different skills: infield defense, limiting strikeouts, and drawing walks. On the flip side, he might have the least amount of raw power in the entire organization. He’ll likely start the year as South Bend’s second baseman and folks in Northern Indiana will be entertained every day he takes the field. His development this season and next will be incredibly interesting to follow.

26. Nick Hull | RHP, Double-A Knoxville

I refuse to give up on Hull as a reliever. The stuff plays up a significant amount in that role and he logs even more whiffs than he typically does as a starter. Besides that, the numbers were pretty similar in 2025’s soft launch as a reliever compared to past years as a starter. I’ll be the first to admit this is likely me being too stubborn with a now 26 year old likely to spend some time in Double-A for the third consecutive season. But like I’ve said before, if you aren’t using this portion of the rankings to tout someone you believe in more than most, then what’s the point of creating a prospect list?

27. Evan Aschenbeck | LHP, High-A South Bend

I think Aschenbeck had a legitimate case to be included in the conversation for Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season alongside Jaxon Wiggins and Jostin Florentino. The converted college closer had a lights-out campaign, beginning in Myrtle and continuing in South Bend. The fastball is a low-90s offering and the secondaries don’t scream for our attention, but the command is pristine. His swinging strike rate was 12.8% last year, a much better mark than his 18.8% strikeout rate would indicate — so I expect Ks to bump up in Year 2 in the org. But I’ve actually got a watchful eye on his ground ball rate (42.5% in 2025) with the hopes it will increase.

28. Jostin Florentino | RHP, Single-A Myrtle Beach

It seems a little silly to have the winner of the aforementioned Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award way down here on the list, especially in an org where high-upside pitcher talent isn’t ever-present. There are two reasons it works out that way for me, though: 1) Florentino came out of absolutely nowhere this year, so the track record isn’t there, and 2) his fastball averages just 90 mph and the sweeper, which has lots of spin and break, comes in the mid-70s and operates more as a changeup than a true chase pitch. This kid’s athleticism is extremely impressive for a pitcher and he saw some of the best fastball velo gains in all of the sport last year. You could use that as evidence he’ll continue to make big strides in his development or you could say the opposite — can he really add 8 mph of velo over the course of two years to get up into the mid-90s?

29. Luis Martinez-Gomez | RHP, High-A South Bend

LMG was arguably the best statistical performer in the system last year among relievers, performed admirably in the Arizona Fall League, features an elite (and unique) pitch in his splitter, and is still just 22 years old. He’ll likely begin this season in Double-A and once a true reliever gets to that level, there’s no telling how quickly we see him in the Majors.

30. Ariel Armas | C, High-A South Bend

Over his last 144 plate appearances (from July 22nd on), Armas posted a slash line of .304/.396/.424 while striking out just 17% of the time and walking 13%. That, paired with the best throwing arm behind the plate, even in a system with Owen Ayers, is enough for him to sneak onto this list. I suspect he’ll be a non-roster invitee to Spring Training as he’ll begin the year in Double-A Knoxville.

Honorable Mentions (alphabetical)

• Edgar Alvarez | 1B/3B/OF, High-A South Bend
• Jose Escobar | OF, Single-A Myrtle Beach
• Jackson Kirkpatrick | RHP, High-A South Bend
• Alexey Lumpuy | OF, Single-A Myrtle Beach
• Nazier Mule | RHP, High-A South Bend
• Yenrri Rojas | RHP, Double-A Knoxville

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I was originally gonna post this at the beginning of the article, but it felt more appropriate to include at the end here. If you read through these rankings and came away less than thrilled about the state of the system, I don’t think you should be discouraged about the Cubs ability to develop prospects. The following is a list of notable prospects the team has traded since the 2023 Trade Deadline:

• Ivan Brethowr
• Ronny Cruz
• Jackson Ferris
• Christian Franklin
• Ryan Gallagher
• DJ Herz
• Zyhir Hope
• Ty Johnson
• Alfonsin Rosario
• Cam Smith

Every single one of these players would have either graduated or been included in my Top 30 if they were still in the organization.