Chicago Cubs 2026 Top 20 Prospects, No. 5: Jonathon Long

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North Side Baseball's top-20 prospect rankings for the Chicago Cubs have reached the final quarter. That rundown continues today, with a look at our No. 5 prospect: corner infielder Jonathon Long. Don't forget to catch up on our previous pieces before you jump into our next installment!

No. 5: Jonathon Long (Triple-A Iowa)

After splitting time between two levels in 2024, Long saw his first taste of Triple-A last year. He proved that he could hang around to the tune of a .305/.404/.479 batting line, a 19.1 percent strikeout rate against a 13.0 walk rate, and a 131 wRC+ across more than 600 plate appearances. Home runs were a fixture in his game, as he swatted 20 of them, including a multi-homer outing on July 4th of last year:

It's an interesting profile, but one that needs just a bit more refinement before we start projecting a regular role for him at Wrigley Field.

What To Like

As evidenced by the above video, Long has plenty of pop in his game. His advanced approach allows him to create quality contact with a certain steadiness. As such, there's plenty to like in what Long turned in on the percentile side with the Iowa Cubs last year:

Such an output is indicative of both the approach and the contact generated by it. The quality in the approach begets the quality of contact. However, as we've seen at the top level with the likes of Seiya Suzuki, there's also a line where the patience goes too far. Nevertheless, Long demonstrated a healthy balance between the two more often than he hasn't. In addition to driving the ball, he's also able to avoid strikeouts and draw walks. Which is important, since we don't always see those aspects collaborate in such a way as they did with Long last season.

There's a significant amount of offensive upside in that bat, with the ability to log time at either corner.

What To Work On

The knock on Long's game is in the elevation and his lack of pull-side power. Sure, he popped 20 homers in 2025, but he also only ISO'd .173. Much of that is due to the fact that he put the ball on the ground to such a heavy extent. The rest of it comes a result of a virtually even split between pull and opposite field contact. Long pulled the ball at a 36.4 percent clip last year while going the other way 35.7 percent of the time.

It speaks to the power upside that exists that Long was able to turn in such quality in his line even with each of those factors working against him. There's an obvious benefit in being able to drive the ball to all fields. But there's an even more obvious one in being able to elevate to the pull side, and Long's Pull-AIR rate falling at the extreme-low-end of the spectrum is going to pin those numbers down quite a bit until he adjusts. Employing such a patient approach should at least make such an adjustment a matter of pitch or zone selection rather than anything mechanical, though.

What's Next

Despite the fact that the bat is just about where it needs to be, Long doesn't have an obvious path to playing time with the Cubs. He logged time at first base, third base, and left field last year, but only 15 of those appearances combined came at either of the latter two spots. Which means that, for all intents and purposes, Long is blocked by Michael Busch. Craig Counsell is also more likely to rotate out the designated hitter spot or give something closer to a full-time look to Moisés Ballesteros, given how right-handed the Cubs' starting group currently figures to be.

That doesn't mean that Long is too far off, however. While it'd be a tough sell to have one of your higher upside offensive prospects riding pine for much of the week, there may be just enough versatility that he could crack the roster for at least a cup of coffee at some point in 2026, barring injury or a reconfiguration of the roster that creates spots elsewhere that could lead to an extended stay.

Ultimately, though, the positional aspect of Long might make him too rigid a prospect to see for an extended run on the North Side anytime soon. The offensive profile is certainly intriguing enough, but the Cubs lack the opening or the logistics on the roster that will instead result in Long logging a heavy share of his time back in Iowa for the foreseeable future. Should one of the longer-term scenarios arise, that could leave just the sliver of roster space that Jonathon Long needs to make his big-league debut.

Interested in learning more about the Chicago Cubs' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!

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