Cory Sparks

The Chicago Cubs have released their 40-man Spring Breakout Roster pool. Here are four different players to watch for as factors in a showcase that highlights the future of America's pastime. Cubs top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins has been impressing early with his 70-grade fastball and wipeout slider. Jefferson Rojas has arguably has the most productive spring of any Cubs hitting prospect. Ethan Conrad, while yet to make his debut, has the makings of a five-tool player after impressing at Marist College and Wake Forest. Lastly, Moises Ballesteros showed a glimpse of what could be in his brief but productive big league break-in last year. View full video

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images The Chicago Cubs have done their part in the grand reveal of their 2026 Spring Breakout Pool. Chicago has had players like NL Rookie of the Year candidate Cade Horton and Pete Crow-Armstrong on this squad in the past. The purpose of the Spring Breakout Series is to highlight each team’s top prospect talents by giving them another platform to prove themselves to the big league ball club. Think about it like the All-Star Futures Game, but with a couple of modifications. The Cubs joined the rest of Major League Baseball in submitting a preliminary list of 40 players who could appear on their breakout roster: PITCHERS (15) Brandon Birdsell, RHP, No. 17 Brooks Caple, RHP, NR Jostin Florentino, RHP, No. 18 Grant Kipp, RHP, No. 29 Jackson Kirkpatrick, RHP, NR Riley Martin, LHP, No. 28 Luis Martinez-Gomez, RHP, No. 24 Nazier Mulé, RHP, NR Dominick Reid, RHP, No. 16 Erian Rodriguez, RHP, No. 23 Yenrri Rojas, RHP, NR Will Sanders, RHP, NR JP Wheat, RHP, NR Jaxon Wiggins, RHP, No. 2/MLB No. 58 Kaleb Wing, RHP, No. 13 CATCHERS (4) Ariel Armas, C, No. 20 Owen Ayers, C, No. 11 Moisés Ballesteros, C, No. 1/MLB No. 55 Justin Stransky, C, NR INFIELDERS (11) Edgar Alvarez, 1B, NR Juan Cabada, 2B/OF, No. 12 Angel Cepeda, INF, No. 25 Fernando Cruz, SS/2B, No. 30 Jonathon Long, 1B, No. 7 Cole Mathis, 1B/3B, No. 15 Pedro Ramirez, 3B/2B, No. 9 Jefferson Rojas, SS/2B, No. 5 Ty Southisene, 2B, No. 26 Juan Tomas, SS, No. 14 James Triantos, 2B/OF, No. 10 OUTFIELDERS (10) Derik Alcantara, OF, NR Kevin Alcántara, OF, No. 4 Brett Bateman, OF, No. 21 Ethan Conrad, OF, No. 3 Josiah Hartshorn, OF, No. 8 Kane Kepley, OF, No. 6 Alexey Lumpuy, OF, NR Christian Olivo, OF, NR Kade Snell, OF, No. 27 Carter Trice, OF, NR With the roster being cut down in a couple of weeks and the regular season behind just around the corner, here are four notable players who could potentially make some noise in the Spring Breakout contest. Prospects To Watch: Jaxon Wiggins Wiggins is the Cubs’ shiny sports car at the moment. With Cade Horton graduating from prospect status last year, the former Arkansas Razorback has taken the reins as the team’s top pitching prospect. After an up-and-down first year in professional baseball in 2024 where Wiggins searched for his command at times, the hard-throwing righty turned up the temperature and found himself in Triple-A by the end of last season. Overall, his 70-grade fastball, wicked upper-80s slider and .176 career opponent batting average stand out as top metrics indicating his MLB debut could be just around the corner. Prospects To Watch: Jefferson Rojas Few players have stolen center stage like Rojas has for the Cubs in the last couple of weeks. Rojas has gone on his own Spring Breakout tour, logging a .318 batting average and a team-best 16 total bases across eight exhibition contests for the Cubs thus far. The organization’s No. 5 prospect topped out in Double-A Knoxville to conclude his 2025 campaign, but he took his lumps, failing to hit a home run and hitting .164 across 39 contests. The rising middle infielder is starting 2026 with confidence; let’s see if the performance can translate on the big stage come March 21. Prospects To Watch: Ethan Conrad As the Cubs’ first-round pick in 2025, all eyes will be watching if Conrad gets his first competitive at-bats with some of Chicago’s brightest young stars. The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon boasts five-tool upside, with all of his tools grading at 50 or higher. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, Conrad packs a punch with plus speed once he gets his gears turning. As an outfielder, there’s added appeal knowing that Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ are on contract years and that the organization’s former top prospect, Owen Caissie, packed his backs for Miami in the Edward Cabrera trade. The 21-year-old has a long way to go before getting a call to the bigs, but it’s hard not to get excited knowing the North Siders have the NCAA triples leader (13) from just a couple of seasons ago. Prospects To Watch: Moises Ballesteros Last but certainly not least, we have a top-100 prospect who has already made his major-league debut. Ballesteros looked calm, cool and collected when he joined the North Siders down the stretch last year. The backstop made himself irresistible in Triple-A Iowa, hitting .316 with a superb .858 OPS across 114 games before carrying his momentum to Wrigley Field. Ballesteros’ OPS spiked to .868 in the majors, and he enjoyed two round-trippers with 11 runs batted in across 20 big-league contests. This showcase could be another opportunity to highlight the top prospect in the Cubs’ farm system. The Matchup The Cubs host the San Diego Padres’ Spring Breakout roster at Sloan Park on March 21. First pitch for the NL Wild Card rematch is set for 8:05 PM CT. View full article

Shota Imanaga has been in Cubs spring training headlines for the full spectrum of reasons. While his fastball velocity is hovering around 94 MPH at times, up from 2024 and 2025 numbers, he recently gave up some hard contact to the Cubs' crosstown rivals, the Chicago White Sox. Should we be worried about Imanaga regressing in 2026? We break it all down in this video. View full video

Colin Rea may just seem like a mid-reliever or back-end rotation option on the surface. The reality is, this 35-year-old veteran has one of the most important jobs of any Cubs pitcher in 2026. In this video, we break down Rea's relation to the Cubs rotation, the moving pieces around him, what he has learned over his career, and how he became so difficult to hit. View full video

Cubs top 30 prospect Grant Kipp is one of the most interesting farmhands in baseball. Not only did he join the team for $50,000, but the Cubs pitching prospect has quickly risen as a crucial part of their depth chart. With Brandon Birdsell injured and recent draft selections Dominick Reid and Kaleb Wing yet to play, Kipp is knocking on the door of Triple-A Iowa to make a name for himself. Enjoy! View full video

Michael Conforto and the Cubs have agreed on a minor league deal for 2026. This comes a year after Conforto regressed on a one-year, $17 million contract with the Dodgers. The veteran outfielder logged a career-low .199 batting average with 12 homers and 36 runs batted in. If Conforto turns back the clock in 2026, who is left out? We answer this and more in this video. Enjoy! View full video

@BertzI feel like his floor is so high, and the breaking stuff can turn him from being a reliable arm into someone with a little more flair than we anticipated!

Cade Horton's remarkable 2025 campaign had him knocking on the doorstep of some National League Rookie of the Year hardware. Based on his arsenal, durability, and signs of growth, can he be the ace of a crowded room of arms this season? We dive into Horton's strengths, weaknesses, and the likelihood of that happening. Enjoy! View full video

While Ben Brown was hit around and struggled to control at-bats with a two-pitch mix in 2025, there are a few signals pointing towards a bounce-back campaign in 2026. If all goes to plan, and Brown expands his arsenal, Tommy Hottovy eluded that Brown could be a pivotal part of the future of this Cubs rotation. View full video

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Spring training is finally here, and the non-roster invitees for every big-league team see it as a prime chance to break into The Show. For the Chicago Cubs, there are three non-roster invitees who could be in line to make some extra noise and contribute on the north side of Chicago in 2026. Jaxon Wiggins This name drop feels self-explanatory. Wiggins is the top pitching prospect in the Cubs pipeline. The hard-throwing righty ended his season in Triple-A Iowa last year, with one of the best fastball-slider combos in the minors. The fastball, earning a 65 grade at the end of the 2025 campaign, sits comfortably in the 96-97 mph range and can touch 100 mph when the 24-year-old gets ramped up. The velocity also holds up well within outings, an important attribute for someone who has frontline starter potential. Stuff models don't like the heater as much as scouts do, but there's time for the team and Wiggins to improve the pitch's combination of shapes and locations. Wiggins’s mid-80s slider has hard bite to it and has the capability to generate whiffs, but he has struggled to control it at times. He also has a mid-80s changeup with decent arm-side ride. Overall, Wiggins has 168 strikeouts in 138 innings of professional baseball, and it's looking like he can keep racking up punchouts in the majors—perhaps as soon as this summer. It's unlikely that we'll see Wiggins right away, of course. His ability to break into this year’s rotation got dicey once the Cubs traded for projected starter Edward Cabrera. Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton and Jameson Taillon round out what will likely be Chicago’s starting five. Meanwhile, erstwhile ace Justin Steele is expected to make a midseason return, and appears to be ahead of schedule. Injuries can happen, and with those come opportunities, but between the depth of the rotation and the bevy of veteran arms in camp to compete for bullpen spots, we're likely to see Wiggins spend at least the first two months in Iowa. Jonathon Long Like Wiggins, Long has only a slim chance to crack the roster at a relatively loaded position. Still, the 24-year-old corner infielder is making his case to be a big bat, as he registered a .305 batting average and a .404 on-base percentage in 140 games at Triple-A Iowa in 2025. Long also belted a career-best 20 long (Long?) balls and drove in 91 runs. His 55-grade power has blossomed over time, and the Cactus League will give him a chance to test himself against some big-league arms. Michael Busch is a star-caliber first baseman, but right-handed platoon bat and backup Tyler Austin is more of an enigma. There may be room for the 2023 9th-rounder to earn a DH spot or to overtake Austin, but he’ll have to truly wreak havoc to compete with Moisés Ballesteros, Kevin Alcántara, Matt Shaw and Austin for a spot. He's a bit buried on the Cubs' depth chart, but if nothing else, he has some burgeoning trade value. Grant Kipp Once you get past Wiggins, there's a bit of a lacuna on the Cubs' organizational starting pitching depth chart. Kipp, who had 110 strikeouts (but 57 walks and a whopping 18 hit batsmen) in 108 innings at Double-A Knoxville, will try to help fill it, though he probably doesn't have much of a future as a starter in the majors. His 60-grade curveball is the sharpest of any of his pitches, as it generates 3,000 rpm with a shape that he’s able to customize throughout his starts. Kipp has come a long way from signing on for $50,000 as a nondrafted free agent in 2022. Can he make the next step? His ability to rule at-bats with his off speed stuff this spring could answer that question. These aren't the non-roster guys most likely to help the 2026 Cubs. There are several players in camp whom the team signed specifically to compete for limited but important roles, and who have big-league track records that foretell success. However, the Cubs system needs to start achieving greater success in terms of churning out homegrown players at each level of a roster. In Wiggins, Long and Kipp, there are three guys in big-league camp who personify the potential and the developmental needs that define the team's long-term goals. View full article

Is Jameson Taillon underappreciated? The Cubs starter recently responded to a Twitter poll referring to Taillon giving up a home run to Alex Bregman as the former Pittsburgh Pirate being in midseason form. This got our wheels turning and gave our team a jolt of inspiration to highlight just how solid Taillon has been in Chicago's rotation over the last two years. In this video, we cover his durability, six-pitch mix, and pitch-to-contact tactics that make him a reliable fifth starter for this year's squad. View full video

Ethan Conrad is the Cubs' first-round pick from the 2025 MLB Draft. The Marist/Wake Forest alum brings a well-rounded approach, as he flashed with 13 triples in his 2024 season. Already being rated as the no. 5 prospect in the Cubs system, Conrad projects to be the team's future outfielder in just a couple of years' time. Will he take Seiya Suzuki or Ian Happ's spot, and will either be around after their contracts expire after this season? We dive into it all here on North Side Baseball. View full video

Jaxon Wiggins is the top pitching prospect in the Cubs' farm system. His scouting report says he is estimated to arrive in The Show this upcoming summer, but is that feasible? In this video, we dive into Wiggins' pitch arsenal, the Cubs' rotation, depth pieces ahead of Wiggins, and whether or not we will truly see him at Wrigley Field in 2026. View full video