Chicago Cubs no. 1 draft pick is, finally, killing it

The Chicago Cubs are finally seeing some significant high-end results from their 2025 first round draft pick Ethan Conrad.

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Actually, the 22-year-old spent almost a full year on the shelf before he even got a chance to play ball in the Cubs organization. He was rehabbing from a torn labrum and a dislocation in his throwing shoulder at the time of the draft and then suffered a lower back injury that kept him from playing until June of this year.

Many felt that the young talent would’ve gone higher than the 17th overall pick if it hadn’t been for his shoulder injury at the time. The Cubs had previously earmarked him as a Top 10 pick and were eager to snatch him up when he was still available as their turn to select came. It was a calculated gamble based on his tremendous offensive upside.

After a quick 5-game stint in rookie ball this season, where he crushed opposition pitching, he was then promoted to Low-A Myrtle Beach, where he promptly fell into a funk, hitting .164 in his first month at that new level.

Ethan Conrad is on fire

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But Conrad has now come alive and is showing the world what the Cubs organization—and pretty much everyone else—saw in his healthy self.

Per Carson Wolf of The Wrigley Wire:

“Ethan Conrad is playing out of his mind.

He is batting .378 with 6 XBH over his last 7 games.”

On the season, between rookie league and Myrtle Beach, Conrad is hitting .262 with 5 home runs and 23 RBIs in 135 plate appearances, with much of his high-impact production coming in this recent tear of his.

At the time of his drafting, Cubs vice president of scouting Dan Kantrovitz was high on Conrad and forecast what he’s showcasing now.

“We felt he’s somebody that, had he played out the entire season, would have been considered in the top 10…A pretty exceptional value in terms of getting him at 17.”

He’s somebody that can turn a double into a triple with his speed, and I think he’s somebody that is gonna be able to put pressure on the defense in a number of different ways. His decision-making, his ability to make contact, his ability to hit for damage—all three of those pillars are there, and we think that he’s just getting better across the board.”

Crunching the numbers

Cory Sparks of North Side Baseball crunched the numbers from his first thirty games of pro ball and came up with some noteworthy early observations.

“For one, he’s jumping on pitches in the zone. Not only does Conrad swing at 75.1% of pitches thrown in the zone (89th percentile), but he’s only whiffing 16.2 percent of the time (92nd percentile). MLB Pipeline describes him as an aggressive hitter who can make up for it with remarkable hand-eye coordination, and so far that has translated to the Low-A level.

The Cubs’ rising star also doesn’t strike out a ton, just 20.8 percent of the time. The more he can put the ball in play, the easier it’ll be to justify an attack-oriented approach.”

MLB Pipeline estimates that he’ll make his big league arrival in 2028. which may be a bit optimistic. But, still, with outfield standouts Josiah Hartshorn and Kane Kepley also advancing in the system and pegged for a 2028 Chicago arrival, the Cubs’ outfield future looks bright.

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