Two middle infielders, two starting pitchers and a slugging corner infielder highlight today’s tour through the best of the minors.
It’s day four of the BCB Cubs Top 25 Prospect countdown and now we’re getting into the really interesting prospect who could make a major impact in the major impact in the major leagues.
To be eligible for this list, you have to have fewer than 130 major league plate appearances or fewer than 50 innings pitched. I added an extra requirement (which is part of the official Rookie of the Year requirements) this year of fewer than 45 days on an active major league roster. I also don’t rank international players who haven’t left the Dominican Summer League yet. I’ve explained why in previous installments.
These final 10 prospects are guys that I’m really excited about. As I’ve written before, I think the system is down this year compared to last season, but that’s mostly because of graduations and trades. Those are good reasons to be down. Last year’s list might have been the deepest that I’ve ever compiled. This year’s isn’t nearly as deep, but today and tomorrow’s guys are nearly as interesting.
As always, any screw-ups on this list are my fault.
Clicking on the player’s name takes you to their MiLB dot com page for more information.
6. James Triantos. 2B. B:R, T:R. 5’11”, 195. DOB: 1/29/2003. Drafted 2nd round (2021) Madison HS (VA).
It’s funny how Triantos turned out to be as good as advertised, just not in the way he was advertised. Coming out of high school, Triantos was praised for his strong bat speed and contact skills. It’s difficult to sneak a fastball by him and his 11.1 strikeout percentage last season was outstanding. That’s the part that’s played out as expected.
But Triantos was also expected to turn that bat speed into average or above-average power, and that hasn’t really happened and it’s not likely to. Triantos’ approach at the plate is to drive hard ground balls and line drives to all parts of the outfield. He’ll take the outside pitch to right field for a single or a double with regularity.
The Cubs also expected that Triantos would be a third baseman and that’s where he played almost exclusively in 2022. But to be frank, he was bad there. The Cubs then tried him at second base and while there were some growing pains there, he now gets praised as one of the best defensive second basemen in all of the minor leagues.
Triantos’ raw foot speed is only above average, but he’s a terrific baserunner anyway, stealing 47 bases in 56 attempts between Double-A and Triple-A.
So basically, the Cubs thought they were getting a third baseman with power who would hit in the five or six hole in the lineup. Instead, they got a good-glove second baseman who could hit leadoff or second, although he doesn’t walk quite as much as you’d like to see a leadoff hitter walk. Triantos goes up to the plate looking to make contact, although he’s not a free swinger.
Triantos started last season in Double-A Tennessee, where he finished second in the Southern League with an even .300 batting average over 89 games. He also had a .345 on-base percentage. Eighteen doubles, five triples and seven home runs gave Triantos a .437 slugging percentage. He also got to play in the Futures Game during All-Star Weekend.
That performance got Triantos promoted to Iowa in August, where his production didn’t drop off much at all. Over 26 games in Triple-A, Triantos hit .302/.351/.384.
Triantos should return to Iowa to start the season, but he’s knocking on the door to Wrigley as well. There is going to be a problem as to where to play him, however. I’ve seen his game compared to Nico Hoerner’s, but that’s going to be a problem for Triantos as long as Hoerner still plays for the Cubs. Even it the Cubs were to trade Hoerner, second base is probably top prospect Matt Shaw’s natural position. The Cubs have tried Triantos out in center and left field and he can play those positions competently. The issue, of course, is that Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ are blocking him there too. It’s tempting to try to turn him into a Ben Zobrist-style player who plays 130 games a year at multiple positions, but his struggles playing on the left side of the infield argue against that approach.
In any case, Triantos’ strong hit tool, speed and defense at second base means he’s going to play in the majors somewhere, either for the Cubs or elsewhere. A major league debut in 2025 looks quite possible, if the Cubs can find a spot for him.
The Skinny: James Triantos is a good-glove second baseman with an exceptional hit tool and good base running instincts. There is some question about where he can play for the Cubs, so he might be trade bait.
Here’s MLB Pipeline’s highlight reel and evaluation of Triantos. [Video]
Here is Triantos having a three-hit day in Triple-A. [Video]
And here he is making a great play on defense. [Video]
7. Jefferson Rojas. SS. B:R, T:R. 5’11”, 165. DOB: 4/25/2005. International free agent (2022) Dominican Republic.
Jefferson Rojas continues to hold his own against much older competition. In his age 19 season in High-A South Bend, Rojas hit .245/.310/.336 with six home runs and 27 steals in 96 games. That might not sound great, but again, he was just 19 playing against a lot of 22- and 23-year-olds. On top of that, that batting average was driven down by an abnormally-low (for him) batting average on balls in play of .274. Rojas makes hard enough contact that there is no obvious reason why his BABIP was so low. It was .320 the year before in Low-A Myrtle Beach.
Rojas has a quick, controlled right-handed swing that is designed to spray the ball to all fields. He also has an excellent eye at the plate and rarely swings at bad pitches. Rojas’ 15.3 percent strikeout rate last year was pretty impressive for someone so young in the Midwest League. He could afford to be a little more patient and wait for his pitch—sometimes he swings at balls he can make contact with that he probably should let go. Rojas will draw a walk, but it’s not his first choice. But overall, it’s a very advanced approach for someone so young.
Right now Rojas is more contact over power, but he is starting to show the ability to drive the ball as he gets bigger and more confident at the plate. He’s never going to be a slugger, but fringe-average power (10-15 home runs a year) with a bunch of doubles seems quite likely.
Defensively, Rojas seems to have all the tools to stick at shortstop, although he’s still inexperienced and learning the finer points of the position. His arm is nothing special, but it is certainly strong enough for short. He could also move over to second base easily enough, and some observers think second would be a better fit.
Rojas is still young and there’s no need to rush him. He will likely spend the entire 2025 season in Double-A Knoxville. We certainly don’t know how the new Smokies stadium is going to play, but I am wondering how he’ll do away from the strong pitchers’ parks in Myrtle Beach and South Bend. (Although curiously, he has hit better at home than on the road the past two seasons.) He’s already a borderline Top 100 prospect. A successful 2025 will send Rojas further up the prospect rankings and put him in line for a major league debut in 2026 or 2027.
The Skinny: Rojas is young shortstop with strong contact skills, decent power and good speed who has held his own against much older competition throughout his career.
Here’s Rojas’ top prospect video (with highlights) from MLB Pipeline. [Video]
8. Brandon Birdsell. RHP. 6’2”, 240. DOB: 3/23/2000. Drafted 5th round (2022), Texas Tech.
No one took a bigger step forward in 2024 than Birdsell, who I ranked 24th last season. (OK, maybe Porter Hodge, who went from 21st to closing in the majors.) Birdsell took that step forward by improving his control and command, which were good before but now rank out as plus or nearly elite. He became a much more consistent strike thrower.
Birdsell has a short, quick motion with a brief pause in his delivery. I would imagine the biggest benefit of this is that it’s easy for Birdsell to repeat and allows him to avoid the inconsistency that sometimes plagues some pitchers. His four-seam fastball is in the 94-96 mile per hour range and can touch 98 at times. However, it doesn’t have a lot of movement and his compact motion, where he lets go of the ball closer to his body, means hitters have a bit more time to react. Still, it projects out to be at least an average major-league fastball.
Birdsell’s best pitch is an upper-80s cutter with good horizontal movement that he seemingly can paint the corners with at will. He also has a decent mid-80s slider with more late drop. Birdsell also has a curve and a changeup that rate as below average, but can be used to give hitters a different look.
But what makes Birdsell special is not his pure stuff, but his control. Between Double-A and Triple-A last season, Birdsell had a walk rate of just 5.4 percent, down from a still very good 7.2 percent in 2023. All of his stuff plays better simply because he can locate it for a strike most of the time.
Birdsell started last season in Double-A Tennessee, where he went 4-4 with a 3.63 ERA over 74⅓ innings. He struck out 65 and walked just 13 over 14 starts and a relief appearance. That earned Birdsell a promotion to Triple-A Iowa, where he had some adjustment issues. In his first Triple-A start, he got hammered for six runs and ten hits over 4⅓ innings. He did strike out six and the only walk was intentional. But he adjusted to the new level and in his final start of the season, Birdsell threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and one walk while striking out ten.
Birdsell’s final numbers from Iowa were 4-5 with a 4.26 ERA over 12 starts. He struck out 69 and walked just 18 in 61⅓ Triple-A innings.
Birdsell’s upside isn’t high, but there’s always room at the back of a major league rotation for a big strike thrower who can eat innings and give his team a chance to win almost every time out. He’ll start the season back in Iowa, but it seems likely that he’ll make his major league debut sometime this year.
The Skinny: Brandon Birdsell is a big right-hander with excellent control who profiles as a back-of-the-rotation starter. He could make his major league debut this season.
Here’s Birdsell striking out ten in his final start of the season. [Video]
9. Jaxon Wiggins. RHP. 6’6”, 225. DOB: 10/03/2001. Drafted 2nd round (2023), Arkansas.
The Cubs took Wiggins in the second round in 2023 despite him missing his entire junior season at Arkansas with Tommy John surgery. So Wiggins didn’t make his professional debut until this past May. But Wiggins quickly showed some impressive pure stuff that makes the decision to draft him that high seem like a reasonable gamble.
Wiggins features a 96-97 mile per hour fastball that can touch as high as 100. His 6’6” frame gives it a nice downward movement. He matches that with 85-to-88 mph slider that breaks hard down. His change is a work in progress and his loopy high-70s curve isn’t that impressive on its own, but it can completely freeze a hitter looking for that upper-90s fastball.
Wiggins’ issue, of course, is control. Even though Wiggins’ pitching motion is not especially complicated, control is often difficult for taller pitchers who struggle to repeat their motion. On top of that, control is also often elusive for pitchers in their first year back from Tommy John surgery. But he walked too many batters at Arkansas before he underwent the knife, so you can’t just blame it all on the surgery.
Wiggins made four starts in the Arizona Complex League to start his pro career and it was a struggle, as to be expected. Wiggins walked 12 batters (while striking out seven) over seven innings in those four starts.
But upon arriving in Myrtle Beach, it was clear that Carolina League hitters were no match for Wiggins’ pure stuff. Wiggins threw 21 innings over six starts and posted an ERA of 2.14. He struck out 26 batters and walked just five.
That got Wiggins promoted to High-A South Bend, where more experienced hitters knew to lay off some of those pitches. Wiggins made eight starts in the Midwest League, totaling 31⅔ innings. In that time, he struck out 38, which is excellent, and walked 19, which is not excellent. That lead to a record of 3-1 with a 4.55 ERA in the Midwest League.
There is a wide variety of outcomes with Wiggins. He has the size and stamina to be a starter and the pure stuff to be a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. But control issues could doom him to being a back-end starter, a reliever or even that he would never make it out of Double-A.
While I might be wrong, I think the Cubs will start Wiggins at Double-A Knoxville. He could probably uses some more time in High-A, but he also has the kind of injury history that makes a team want to rush him through the minors before he breaks again. But no matter where he starts the season, the plan should be for him to get the bulk of his innings in Double-A this year. After that, a major league debut could come sometime in 2026.
The Skinny: Wiggins is a tall, hard-throwing right-hander with number-two starter potential. But control issues threaten to derail his career.
Here are the highlights of an eight-strikeout game for Wiggins. [Video]
10. Jonathon Long 1B/3B. B:R, T:R. 5’11, 210. DOB: 1/20/2002. Drafted 9th round (2023), Long Beach State.
Jonathon Long really turned some heads with his second-half last season. After a solid start to the season in High-A South Bend (.247/.346/.417 with ten home runs in 68 games), the Cubs promoted Long to Double-A Tennessee. There he took off, mashing Southern League pitching to the tune of a .340/.455/.528 line with seven home runs in just 46 games. Long also walked more times than he struck out—35 walks to 33 strikeouts in 200 plate appearances.
The hitting didn’t stop there. Long went to the Arizona Fall League and in 18 games there, Long put up a line of .338/.425/.662 with six home runs. The AFL is admittedly a easy place to hit, but Long’s 1.087 OPS was fifth in the league.
Analysts who look at advanced stats found a lot to like in Long as well. Long put up elite exit velocities that would indicate that the stat lines weren’t just mirages. His 16.5 percent strikeout rate in Double-A is also an indication of his ability to to make contact and put the ball in play.
Long has a short, quick swing through the zone. He hammers the ball to all fields and gets enough lift on the ball to provide considerable power potential. One interesting thing of note is that Long tends to hit the ball harder to the opposite field than he pulls the ball. Is that a good sign that he has power to all fields or a bad sign that he’s late on minor league fastballs and he’s just strong enough to power them to the other field? That’s something to watch out for when he goes up against better velocity in Triple-A. But in any case, Long loves to pound balls into both outfield gaps.
Being a right-handed first baseman puts a lot of pressure on the bat to succeed. So the Cubs have tried him out at third base and left field. Right now, Long looks below average defensively at both spots. He is inexperienced at both positions and he’ll have to improve quickly at one of those positions to play there in the majors.
Long should start the season in Triple-A Iowa. As he’s not on the 40-man roster, he’ll probably spend the entire year there, unless he fails miserably or succeeds beyond any reasonable expectations. The bat is likely a special one, but it may need to be even better than that to play regularly in the majors.
The Skinny: Long is an exciting hitter for both power and average. But unless he can learn to play third base or left field, that might not be enough to secure a starting job in the majors as a right-handed-hitting first baseman.
Here’s a three-hit game Long had in the AFL. [Video]
A two-home run game in Tennessee. [Video]
Some assorted at bats in the AFL.
Tomorrow: The top five.