Chicago Cubs 2026 Top 20 Prospects, No. 6: Ethan Conrad

[Jason Ross]

Image courtesy of Baseball America

Today we continue on with breaking down the top-20 prospects (as voted on by North Side Baseball staff) by looking at our sixth-ranked prospect, Ethan Conrad. Don't forget to catch up on our previous pieces before you jump into our next installment! 

• Prospects #20-16
• Prospects #15-11
• Prospect #10 - James Triantos
• Prospect #9 - Josiah Hartshorn
• Prospect #8 - Kane Kepley
• Prospect #7 - Pedro Ramirez

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No. 6: Ethan Conrad (Wake Forrest)

Ethan Conrad was the Chicago Cubs' first-round pick in the 2025 Amateur Draft. Conrad, most recently at Wake Forest, transferred to the Atlantic Coast baseball power from Marist University. At Marist, the eventual top pick was stellar in his sophomore year, posting a .389/.467/.704 line while smashing nine round trippers in over 220 plate appearances. A shoulder injury would cut Conrad's junior year short, but he was on pace to destroy his previous career highs, already with seven home runs in under 80 PAs. 

What to like:

Ethan Conrad, despite only playing a partial season last year, was looking like an absolute monster at the plate. He had improved across the board, walking more, hitting for more power, and seeing both his SLG and OBP increasing over his previous numbers at Marist. While we should expect a player to get better as he ages up, Conrad did so while taking a massive jump in competition quality. 

One massive green flag right off the bat? Conrad posted a 92% contact rate in-zone in 2025. A hitters' ability to make consistent contact in the zone is something that continues to translate to higher levels. At times, hitters strikeout rates can be hidden against lower-quality players even if they run low in-zone rates, but Conrad is not one of those. He's both patient and displays a plus hit tool. Add in the power ability and you have the foundations of a hitter who could be very special. 

Speaking of his power, Conrad posted some impressive batted ball data while at Wake Forrest in his truncated season. He posted a max exit velocity over 109mph on the year, showcasing what kind of damage the left-handed hitter does when he makes contact. Many times players who run ridiculously high contact rates sacrifice power for hits, but not Conrad. As you can see in his profile above, he was at the top of the percentile rankings across the board. 

Conrad does all of this with a simple and mechanically clean set-up. There's not a lot of moving parts, the leg kick isn't overly exaggerated, he creates good lift, and everything looks very smooth. Other draft prospects have things you'd need to clean up (for example, Josiah Hartshorn's left-handed swing has a few too many moving parts for my liking), but once again, not Conrad. It's very repeatable. 

Defensively, there's a real reason to think Conrad will end up in a premium position down the road. Baseball America calls him an "above average" runner and raves about his athleticism. It's likely that the Cubs will give him runway to play center field early in his career. Not to be too forward thinking when it comes to the Cubs' new golden goose, but even if he has to move to a corner (if, say, Pete Crow-Armstrong is still manning center) his bat will more than play there, too. 

What to work on:

Health, health and health. Shoulder injuries aren't great, and keeping him healthy and maintained throughout the 2026 season is important. It may force the Cubs to give him some time at first base (which he has played in the past at Marist) or as a DH more often than you'd like, but you'd rather have a healthy Conrad over everything. There's a reason a hitter as good as the 21-year-old was there for the Cubs to pick at 17, and that he eventually signed under slot value.

Because of his 2025 season, it's also important to note that when he eventually makes his on-field debut in 2026, he'll have essentially gone from playing at Marist University to professional full-season baseball with very little game-time in between. It's not impossible for a player to jump into the deep end like that, but it also means that Conrad may not come out of the gates ripping and roaring as he takes a pretty major step up in competition quality right away. 

One thing BA mentioned in their scouting report: Conrad doesn't pull the ball enough yet, and a handful of his home runs went the opposite way. That both speaks to the potential thump he possess, but also an area of polish that's needed: getting him to turn on the ball a little more often. Higher level pitching will turn opposite field home runs into fly outs if you don't get the barrel out in front. It's fixable, especially with his clean mechanics, but it is a point to watch as he grows as a hitter. 

Lastly, like all players with some projection left in his body, Conrad needs to make sure that he remains at a good size with conditioning and hard work. He looks like a brick house leading up to the season, so this concern is more theoretical in keeping him in center for as long as possible than a real-world concern right now, but it's something to continue to work on for the prospect as he moves forward.

What's next: 

Ethan Conrad will debut professionally this spring in either Myrtle Beach or South Bend. Developmentally, he may be more suited to High-A South Bend, though at times the Cubs have started their college products at Myrtle Beach in April to avoid weather issues. Coming off a shoulder injury, it wouldn't be shocking to see him start in Low-A to see the warmer weather in South Carolina should afford over Northern Indiana only to make the jump as temperatures rise over a few weeks.

Beyond that, it's a lot of maintaining of his health while he shows why people are so excited for him. Conrad is the type of prospect who has the same kind of "quick-mover" profile to him that former first-round picks like Cam Smith and Matt Shaw had. Seeing him rocket through the system to where he's ready to debut in Iowa by the start of 2027, and eventually making his way to Chicago later that summer, isn't off the table as a potential outcome. 

We shouldn't, however, expect that. If Conrad ends with a cup-of-coffee in Tennessee, he'll be well on his way and will likely have had a very successful season. It seems likely that the Cubs may lose two starting corner outfielders in free agency at the conclusion of the season, but Conrad isn't the Cubs' savior at the position for the '27 campaign, so him ending up in Double-A would be a good outcome. He doesn't need to be MLB ready by April next year and we should avoid putting that type of pressure on him as a prospect. 

With the Cubs likely to graduate a few prospects, coupled with Conrad's upside, there's probably a good chance he ends up the consensus top prospect in the system next year. And even if he's not quite at that level, he's got a good shot to feature on various Top 100 lists around the media. Conrad is an exciting prospect and has a lot of the hallmarks of a potential steal. Watching him develop will be among the most exciting things the Cubs' have going for themselves down on the farm over the next year.

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What do you think of Ethan Conrad? Did we rank him in the correct place? Are we too high? Or too low? Let us know in the comment section below!

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[Bertz]

I'm really curious to see what Conrad's deal is health-wise right now.  We've gotten Hartshorn into three big league ST games, including a full 9 inning game at DH, and yet no Conrad.  The takeaway for me is that even just in the batters box there is still some level of caution or restriction on him. 

There's nothing really positive to learn about Ethan until he gets to South Bend.  So hopefully he's up there before Memorial Day.

[craig]

Yeah, kinda disappointed that he's not ready to go and 100% already.  Will be interesting to see when he starts to get game action, and if/when he moves from DH to playing OF.  Optimist me says that Cubs have been very cautious and deliberate with rehabs, so hopefully he's actually doing just fine, has had no setbacks, will have no setbacks, and when he eventually does unroll his career, this shoulder bit won't have any enduring impact.  

So, yeah.  Get healthy.  Learn to pull.  Get some lift.  Become a plus-plus corner outfielder defensively.  Become a big-slug HR guy, more HR's than "just" an Ian Happ slugger.  

Will be so interesting to see what he looks like by end of the season.  

[Jason Ross]

Yeah, I wish we could see Conrad right now, but I'm okay with them being careful. Shoulders are iffy and I'd prefer to avoid a Mathis situation here. 

My hope is that he's in SB once things warm up. I suspect he'll be in Myrtle to start, and I bet playing 1b/DH more than we'd like, but for his health, they'll do it. If by mid-May or so he's playing OF and in High-A I'll be happy. I do think his bat is super advanced, so he can probably be slow played and still speed through it, but i thought the same with Cole Mathis, so what do I know?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

On 3/11/2026 at 6:30 AM, Bertz said:

I'm really curious to see what Conrad's deal is health-wise right now.  We've gotten Hartshorn into three big league ST games, including a full 9 inning game at DH, and yet no Conrad.  The takeaway for me is that even just in the batters box there is still some level of caution or restriction on him. 

There's nothing really positive to learn about Ethan until he gets to South Bend.  So hopefully he's up there before Memorial Day.

Per Arizona Phil, Conrad has been hitting (and hitting well) in minor league camp, but has not been in the field.