Chicago Cubs prospect’s insane numbers demand major league attention

The Chicago Cubs have the best offense in baseball and have shocked the world with their ability to produce runs.

The team’s offense has been so impactful that it’s been able to overcome the loss of three of their five starters and an inconsistent bullpen.

But there’s actually more firepower on the way.

Jonathon Long, An Under-The-Radar Prospect Demanding Major League Attention

First baseman Jonathon Long has been murdering pitching as an Iowa Cub and is at the point where many feel he has nothing left to prove at the Triple-A level.

The 23-year-old is currently hitting .352/.420/.560 with a .960 OPS. He’s also leading Iowa in home runs (8), RBIs (39), hits (64), and on base percentage (.420).

Long’s emergence as an offensive force was not really in the cards, despite his hitting success in college and at the lower levels of the organization. A ninth-round draft pick in 2023, he’s worked his way into being the Cubs’ no. 13 prospect according to MLB.com and seems to be only getting better.

Getting Better As He Moves Up

Cubs director of player development Jason Kanzler recently marveled at the fact that the young talent has actually gotten better as the level of his opposition has increased.

“He’s doing a lot of things that he did when he was a college player and even earlier in his Minor League career; it’s just that he’s continued to be able to do them through the higher Minors,” Kanzler told MLB.com. “He’s been able to keep pace with and even outpace his level progressions, in terms of his development, and that’s excellent to see.”

“This year he is putting up the best exit velocities of his career by a pretty substantial margin,” Kanzler added. “He is definitely impacting the baseball better than he ever has, including in college with metal bats. So this is a great thing to see.”

And that’s the big thing that everybody mentions when they talk about Long. He hits the ball HARD.

Per Brett Taylor of Bleacher Nation:

“It’s just ridiculous. He has a 94.1 mph average exit velo, a 60.0% hard hit rate, and a 30.6% line drive rate.

Even among some bonkers performances at Triple-A for the Cubs – maybe even going back to the days of the tip-top prospects pre-World Series – I have a hard time remembering a guy who hit the ball THIS hard almost EVERY time he made contact. He doesn’t get quite as much loft as you’d like, but that’s partly due to his line-drive swing. As we’ve seen with guys like Nelson Velazquez and Alexander Canario and Patrick Wisdom, to an extent, having unbelievable contact quality at Triple-A does not necessarily mean you’ll have success in the big leagues.

But Long’s situation is so ridiculous that I almost wish we could see him get a month of big league action, understand where/how he needs to make adjustments, and then get to work on it. Because right now, I’m not sure how much he’s getting out of facing Triple-A pitching, in just his second full pro season, by the way.”

Chicago Cubs May Have A Dilemma

At the major league level, where to play Long may be the issue.

Currently seeing most of his time at first base, where he’s regarded as competent and improving, Long has also played some third base and left field. Below average speed and an average arm, however, may keep him at first.

He’s carried by his bat, though, and he’s got enough offensive upside to make many overlook any defensive limitations.

When it comes to Chicago, bringing Long up full-time would require a major shift in positional strategy and/or a major injury as the team has fully invested in Michael Busch as their first baseman.

The Cubs love Busch’s glove and aren’t exactly in need of offensive firepower at the moment, but it’s easy to see a scenario where that might change, especially if the team loses Kyle Tucker to free agency.

It’s also easy to see a scenario where Long is used as trade bait to help acquire a quality pitcher by the trade deadline.

Whatever the case, Long looks ready to move up. Whether it’s with the Cubs or another team, it won’t be long before he’s doing his thing in the majors.

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