NEW YORK – Is it time for the Cubs to start making big league plans that include slugging prospect Josiah Hartshorn?
“Not yet,” team president Jed Hoyer said last week. “He’s 19.”
But excuse fans for getting excited about Hartshorn, the 2025 sixth-round draft pick who is tearing up the lower levels of the minor leagues in his first taste of pro ball this season.
The switch-hitting Hartshorn woke up Tuesday batting .302/.421/.559 with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs in 63 games split between Class A affiliates in Myrtle Beach and South Bend. He’s a recent addition to MLB.com’s rankings of the top 100 prospects in the sport.
It’s thrilling for Cubs fans waiting for the next big thing. But this potential next big thing has a ways to go, still a teenager for another eight months.
“He’s fun to watch on a nightly basis. He’s been great,” Hoyer said. “You’re talking about what steps he needs to take or what you need to see. But it’s nice.
“In these jobs, obviously you have the major league stuff, but when you have a prospect really break out and do this, it’s fun for the whole organization. The scouting department feels great, player development feels good.”
It maybe shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Hartshorn is doing this well. After all, he received a $2 million signing bonus from the Cubs, a record for a player taken in the sixth round.
Why’d the Cubs plot their draft spending last summer to make sure they landed Hartshorn?
“Finding a guy that can really hit from both sides is really hard,” Hoyer said. “So many switch-hitters are small middle infielders, that’s kind of the profile. To have a guy who controls the zone from both sides, who can hit for power from both sides, that was really what turned us on to him.
“As we were talking about draft strategy, the ability to save some money at the top of the draft and invest it later on, that was something that emerged as we talked through it, and Hartshorn was always the focal point of that. That wasn’t a situation where we had money left over in the sixth round [and figured], ‘Let’s use it.’ That was the guy we targeted.”
PCA out on Ball 4
Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was the victim of a bizarre play in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s 9-6 win, out at second base as first baseman Michael Busch took Ball 4 for a walk.
The confusion came from Crow-Armstrong’s attempted steal of second base on the pitch, and it should have been impossible for him to be caught stealing on a walk. But a replay review showed that Crow-Armstrong touched second base with one hand, which came off the base causing him to “lose possession of the base,” allowing him to be tagged out on the other hand.
Basically, no, the ball was not dead on Ball 4, and Crow-Armstrong was able to be tagged out after going past second.
Manager Craig Counsell didn’t like it and was ejected for voicing his displeasure.
“The umpires interpret rules correctly. They don’t get that stuff wrong. It’s a bad rule,” he said after the game. “It’s a terrible rule. I don’t know what else to say. Not a good rule.”
Crow-Armstrong didn’t have much to add, his brevity perhaps a window into his feelings on the play.
“No comment,” he said. “I don’t know. Pretty confusing stuff.”
Rankled by the rainout
Counsell was none too pleased with the decision to postpone Monday night’s scheduled series-opener with the Mets due to forecasted rain.
“Frankly, yesterday’s game did not need to be rained out,” he said before Tuesday’s game, which was also impacted by rain. “It didn’t rain. And for some reason, we didn’t play.
“Major League Baseball tells you the game’s cancelled, and that’s it.”
It was the second consecutive rainout for the Cubs. But likely more bothersome to Counsell was what Monday’s rainout – and the Wednesday doubleheader it created – could mean for the Cubs’ pitching plans.
Murray? Present.
Right-handed pitcher Jayden Murray has only made 18 career major league appearances, but the Cubs are confident they could be onto something with their latest addition to the roster.
The team landed Murray in a trade with the Astros last weekend. He had a 7.43 ERA in eight relief outings with the big league team, but he had a 1.17 ERA in 14 appearances with Triple-A Sugar Land.
“This is a guy that’s had a lot of success in the minor leagues,” Counsell said. “In the big leagues, he’s got just a limited opportunity. … We think it’s a player that’s ready to succeed in the big leagues.”
Murray made his Cubs debut Tuesday night – becoming the first player to wear No. 70 in a game for the franchise – to poor results; he faced six batters in the ninth inning, giving up a walk, an RBI single and a two-run homer, jacking his season ERA up to 8.79.