Ethan Conrad Promoted to South Bend

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Didn’t expect that

[Bertz]

I was kind of wondering about this when he wasn't in yesterday's lineup.

Good for him.  I hope he can go on an Ayers-esque trajectory from here.  Do the AFL, go back to SB next year with a quick hook to Tenn.  If he can end next year at Iowa, even if it's only a brief cup of coffee, it'll feel like he made up for most of the lost time.

[JunkyardWalrus]

On 8/17/2026 at 9:31 AM, Bertz said:

I was kind of wondering about this when he wasn't in yesterday's lineup.

Good for him.  I hope he can go on an Ayers-esque trajectory from here.  Do the AFL, go back to SB next year with a quick hook to Tenn.  If he can end next year at Iowa, even if it's only a brief cup of coffee, it'll feel like he made up for most of the lost time.

Man, I hope every one of the Cubs prospects go on an ‘Ayers-esque trajectory.’ but I would like to rename it: ‘Going Hartshorn,' just my two-bits. 

[Bertz]

28 minutes ago, JunkyardWalrus said:

Man, I hope every one of the Cubs prospects go on an ‘Ayers-esque trajectory.’ but I would like to rename it: ‘Going Hartshorn,' just my two-bits. 

When I reference Ayers I'm being pretty specific and not just referencing him hitting well and moving fast broadly.

Ayers spent last regular season in Low A even though he was way too old for the level, then made up some ground in the AFL before coming into this season at A+ with a quick hook for AA which is when he finally felt mostly on track.

While he's not as old, Conrad's pedigree as a 1st round bat means he really ought to do the same to justify our excitement in him.

[ILMindState]

Didn’t Contreras come out of nowhere to become a top prospect as well? I don’t think he was even top 10 in the org in 2015. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

32 minutes ago, ILMindState said:

Didn’t Contreras come out of nowhere to become a top prospect as well? I don’t think he was even top 10 in the org in 2015. 

He went from not being in the org's top 30 at the start of 2015 to being a top 2 or 3 prospect in the org (and a top 100 prospect) at the end of the season.

[We Got The Whole 9]

29 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

He went from not being in the org's top 30 at the start of 2015 to being a top 2 or 3 prospect in the org (and a top 100 prospect) at the end of the season.

That was crazy. We're all like, ok we have every position covered but our catchers are pretty old. Woops here comes this pop-up prospect (to most), tearing the cover off the ball at AA, without strikeout concerns, to boot. It was hard to put too much stock into but really hard to ignore how much potential there was. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

10th rounder Luke Alwood and RHP Edwardo Melendez join Conrad in going to South Bend.

11th rounder Ariston Veasey, 2026 UDFA John Alike and RHP Jhon Cabral are moving up to Myrtle Beach.

[Bertz]

This Alwood story is one of the crazier in recent memory IMO

[Funky-daddy]

4 minutes ago, Bertz said:

This Alwood story is one of the crazier in recent memory IMO

What’s crazy about him?

[Bertz]

2 minutes ago, Funky-daddy said:

What’s crazy about him?

Alwood was drafted a month ago in the 10th round and got a below slot bonus even for a 10th rounder.  Now he's suddenly out here with a mid 90's fastball that appears to have quite a bit of carry along with a nice breaking ball.  Low A is probably lesser competition than he's used to but 10 Ks and 1 BB in his first 5 pro innings is great.

On top of that, college pitchers often don't get into games at all post draft, maybe one or two short outings to just get their nerves out and reward then for a good year.  But Alwood is pitching multi-inning relief and probably going to rack up 15-20 innings before we break for the winter.

If he started getting buzz next spring we'd be like "Way to go Zombro!"  But this is like "are you literally a wizard" stuff.