Chicago Cubs Select Ethan Conrad With 17th Overall Pick in 2025 MLB Draft

[Jason Ross]

Image courtesy of Wake Forest University Athletics

The Chicago Cubs select Ethan Conrad with the 17th pick in the 2025 draft. Conrad is listed at 6"3, 220lbs and played at Wake Forest in the 2025 season. Conrad was ranked outside of the top-20 on many draft boards, clocking in at #23 on Baseball America. 

Conrad, who had transferred in from Marist College was slated to be the Daemon Deacons starting center fielder. Starting his quite well, in his first 97 plate appearances, he slashed .372/.495/.744 and was looking like a real hit for Wake Forest. Then tragedy, Conrad would suffer a shoulder injury ending his season early.

Like many recent Cubs' picks, they took a college hitter who is a capable defender, and who has success with wood bats, hitting .385, striking out 18 times and hitting two home runs. The power didn't show out in the Cape but his hit tool did. 

The obvious concern is that Conrad did not get into a full ACC season and that he was hurt for a majority of the year. The upside is that Conrad had top-10 hype earlier this year and that he should come in slightly under the slot value for the #17 pick $4,750,800 due to the injury. There is a chance that his athleticism will play enough to stick in CF, but his bat would be good enough that he could move to a corner and still be a good hitter.

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What do you think of Ethan Conrad? Are you concerned about the injury? Who might the Cubs target with slot savings later?

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[Donzo]

Any idea when he plays again?

[Jason Ross]

On 7/13/2025 at 9:13 PM, Donzo said:

Any idea when he plays again?

Sounds like 2026. Kantrovitz seemed to imply that the timeline for him is to get healthy, get right, and we'll see him in the spring. Which is fine by me; 1.5 months in Myrtle or South Bend could be cool, but I'd rather just have him super healthy and speed run them next year.