4 takeaways from the Chicago Cubs draft class, consisting of a

An adjusted MLB draft schedule required a quick turnaround for the Chicago Cubs and amateur hunting director Dan Kantrovitz.

Baseball altered the format this year. Instead of spreading out the 20 rounds over three days, it was reduced to a two-day procedure with Rounds 1-3 on Sunday night and Rounds 4-20 starting Monday morning. The Cubs draft-room staffers left Wrigley Field around 1 a.m. Monday and were back at 5 a.m.

“Whenever there’s a break in the rhythm, I seem like it might be a little disruptive often,” Kantrovitz said Monday. “In years past, I seemed like perhaps it stretched a little bit more and you want particular days to keep going, and this year we type of got our desire.

“Today was a long day. The best I might arrange of summarize it is it was exhausting for all of us, however that’s how a draft needs to be. And looking back, it was pretty enjoyable.”

Through at least the 6th round– “due to the fact that it’s tough to have too much exposure beyond that,” Kantrovitz explained– he believes the Cubs carried out the plan they set out over the last 2 weeks.

“Pretty much to a T,” Kantrovitz stated. “Now it’s time to see how the players head out and perform. But in regards to being available in with particular expectations, I think we nailed those.”

The Cubs opted for left-handed-hitting outfielders Ethan Conrad from Wake Forest and Kane Kepley from North Carolina with their first two choices.

Part of the Cubs’ method was to come out of the draft with pitching volume, wanting to exhaust that skill pool as much as possible. Drafting seven college pitchers with their final 10 choices and recognizing starters was by design.

Kantrovitz expects the Cubs finalizing 18 or 19 of their 20 picks. He wouldn’t identify it as optimism that third baseman Caleb Barnett, an Alabama dedicate drafted in the 19th round, will give up college and sign.

Here are four preliminary takeaways on the draft class.

1. Their choices altered greatly to college players.

Scotts Valley High’s Kaleb Wing pitches in the very first inning versus Santa Teresa on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.( Shmuel Thaler/Santa Cruz Guard )The Cubs have actually revealed a

willingness under Kantrovitz to skew more toward college players in the top rounds. A few of that technique can be credited to how a group wants to assign its reward pool cash. College players, especially seniors, cost less, which would enable those funds to be put toward other players for more than slot value.

8 of the Cubs’ first 10 choices originated from college, consisting of four who were elders or in graduate-level programs. The Cubs chosen just four high school players in 20 rounds:

• Right-hander Kaleb Wing from Scotts Valley, Calif., in the 4th round (No. 121).
• Outfielder Josiah Hartshorn from Orange Lutheran in California in the 6th round (No. 181).
• Right-hander Kaemyn Franklin– the brother of Cubs minor-league pitcher Kohl Franklin– from Victory Christian in Oklahoma in the 14th round (No. 421).
• Barnett from Mountain Brook, Ala., in the 19th round (No. 571).

Asked after Day 1 of the draft whether the Cubs had the ability to conserve reward swimming pool cash to be more aggressive in the last 17 rounds, Kantrovitz concurred with that evaluation.

“We’re going to go into (Monday) with some flexibility, and at this point it’s challenging to forecast how we’re going to release that flexibility,” he said Sunday night. “But suffice it to say, we’re going into (Monday) with an excellent quantity of financial flexibility.”

2. They valued experience and success in major conferences.

Florida pitcher Pierce Coppola delivers during a College World Series game against Kentucky on June 19, 2024, in Omaha, Neb.(AP Photo/Mike Buscher) In a college-heavy draft for the Cubs, their choices tended to alter toward 2 of the leading conferences

. Eight of their first 13 choices originated from the ACC or SEC.”I never understand if it resembles a chicken-and-egg thing … like if we value it or if there are much better players from those conferences,” Kantrovitz said. “On one hand, if that’s where the best players are, it’s natural for us to most likely draft more players from those conferences. Or maybe the very best players go to those conferences due to the fact that we tend to prepare more of them, or a mix of both.

“But I don’t believe it’s uncommon to have a high concentration of your draft chooses from a few of those significant conferences. Anytime you can see a player against actually excellent competition, it simply assists us create a more crisp assessment of them.”

3. Strong performances in summer season leagues helped.

Alabama’s Kade Snell throughout an April 9, 2024, game in Tuscaloosa, Ala.(AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)A background that includes a strong showing in summer season leagues, such as the Cape Cod League or the MLB Development League, assists hone hunting reports throughout the examination process. Several Cubs choices had noteworthy provings in summer leagues in previous years, consisting of Conrad, Kepley, outfielder Kade Snell (fifth round), catcher Justin Stransky (10th) and right-handers Noah Edders (15th), Connor Knox (18th) and Freddy Rodriguez (20th).

The Cubs aggressively hunt leagues that play in the summer, such as the Cape Cod League, a technique they believe shows valuable on several levels.

“From both a searching standpoint– in terms of we blanket the summer leagues, so we get some premium watches out there– and then also just from an analysis standpoint, you get to see the players hit against a few of the very best pitching in the nation daily, and vice versa for the pitchers,” Kantrovitz stated. “They’re using wood bats, so there belong to that permit us to probably have a bit of a cleaner translation when we’re making our analytical projections.

“That definitely helps us to finish a photo, and in some cases in uncommon cases it’s the only photo in terms of an assessment of some of these players.”

4. They weren’t scared away by players’ injury histories.

Ethan Conrad throughout a March 14, 2023, game in Towson, Md. Conrad bet Marist before transferring to Wake Forest.(AP Photo/Gail Burton) The Cubs have revealed a willingness to draft players whose medical histories may not be the cleanest. Naturally there are layers to that and how the Cubs examine a player’s advantage. It didn’t restrict them from taking Conrad with their very first pick although he missed most of the 2025 college season after shoulder surgical treatment.

“It’s something that we’re open to, and you do not want to close the door on a player based upon his health if the projection is that he’s going to recuperate,” Kantrovitz said. “In the case of Ethan, we anticipate a complete healing.

“So I’m not sure if it’s a pattern, however it’s absolutely something that we’re not going to dismiss players that we believe are injured and are going to get back to full strength and complete speed eventually quickly.”

Conrad wasn’t the only player whose past injuries may have affected where he was selected. Three pitchers the Cubs picked saw their college professions limited by injuries.

Right-hander Eli Jerzembeck, taken in the 11th round out of South Carolina, showed excellent stuff as a freshman in 2023, setting out 36 and walking just six in 31 2/3 innings to match a 2.84 period in 16 games (3 starts). However Tommy John surgery and a stress fracture in his best elbow avoided Jerzembeck from pitching the last two seasons, creating some danger with the choice.

Left-hander Pierce Coppola (seventh round) handled back and shoulder injuries during his 3 seasons at Florida, limiting him to 16 starts and 49 1/3 innings in his Gators profession. He was a strikeout machine this year while publishing a 0.984 WHIP and 2.53 ERA. Coppola started out 43 of the 92 batters he dealt with (46.7%) in 21 1/3 innings.

Kantrovitz kept in mind the Cubs had actually liked Coppola given that he was at Verona (N.J.) High School, which showed practical with the smaller sized sample size in college.

“We had the opportunity to see his things advance, see him get a few more ticks on his fastball, see his breaking ball get a bit crisper, see him submit physically, which equated to a little bit smoother delivery,” Kantrovitz stated. “So he’s somebody that most likely that history in high school really assisted us.”

Jake Knapp (eighth round), who turns 25 next month, missed the 2024 season for North Carolina because of Tommy John surgery. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound right-hander bounced back, however, to earn ACC Pitcher of the Year honors in 2025 by going 14-0 with a 2.02 PERIOD, 22.2% strikeout rate and 4% walk rate for the Tar Heels. His WHIP (0.860) and ERA ranked third and fourth, respectively, among Department I pitchers.

“It wasn’t truly a concern of possibly one year not having the innings,” Kantrovitz stated. “It was most likely the complete picture with him to develop that resume.”

Cubs 2025 draft picks

• No. 17, 1st round: Ethan Conrad, OF, Wake Forest
• No. 56, 2nd round: Kane Kepley, OF, North Carolina
• No. 90, 3rd round: Dominick Reid, RHP, Abilene Christian
• No. 121, fourth round: Kaleb Wing, RHP, Scotts Valley HS (Calif.)
• No. 151, fifth round: Kade Snell, OF, Alabama
• No. 181, 6th round: Josiah Hartshorn, OF, Orange Lutheran HS (Calif.)
• No. 211, 7th round: Pierce Coppola, LHP, Florida
• No. 241, 8th round: Jake Knapp, RHP, North Carolina
• No. 271, 9th round: Colton Book, LHP, Saint Joseph’s
• No. 301, 10th round: Justin Stransky, C, Fresno State
• No. 331, 11th round: Eli Jerzembeck, RHP, South Carolina
• No. 361, 12th round: Connor Spencer, RHP, Mississippi
• No. 391, 13th round: Nate Williams, RHP, Mississippi State
• No. 421, 14th round: Kaemyn Franklin, RHP, Triumph Christian HS (Okla.)
• No. 451, 15th round: Noah Edders, RHP, Troy
• No. 481, 16th round: Riely Hunsaker, RHP, Lamar
• No. 511, 17th round: Logan Poteet, C, Charlotte
• No. 541, 18th round: Connor Knox, RHP, George Mason
• No. 571, 19th round: Caleb Barnett, 3B, Mountain Brook HS (Ala.)
• No. 601, 20th round: Freddy Rodriguez, RHP, Hawaii

Initially Released: July 15, 2025 at 6:00 AM CDT