Some Chicago Cubs prospect items for your Friday afternoon …
I was watching Cade Horton’s post-start media hit earlier this week, and I found myself delighted when he was asked about facing shortstop prospect Jefferson Rojas in live batting practice: “Jefferson … [sigh and laugh] … he owns me. I think I’ve faced him 7 times, and he’s taken me deep 3 times …. All right, dude. We get it. You’re a good hitter.” A good hitter, indeed. It’s been an active spring already for Rojas, who has appeared in multiple games, and will presumably get even more run as the WBC players depart and as the real ramp up for the regulars awaits the final two weeks of the Cactus League schedule. It’s just great that he’s getting in all this time around the big league veterans and coaching staff. The 20-year-old has been turning heads, including his future manager (Cubs.com): “Jefferson’s made a great impression,” Craig Counsell said. “This is why you love to see the talented players from [player development] come over, even if they’re not ready to be big leaguers, necessarily. Just being able to see Jefferson at 19 two years ago and where we’re at right now, it’s like, ‘Wow.’ The maturation, the kind of hitter he’s turned into. It’s really fun to watch.” More on the year ahead for Rojas, if you missed it:Spring Training performance really doesn’t matter in the end, but you do like seeing more and more power from Jefferson Rojas. He has a great understanding of the strike zone already, and good pitch recognition. He doesn’t have to hit 20+ homers to be valuable as a quality middle infield defender, but he will have to make enough authoritative contact for the overall offensive skillset to play at the highest level.
Going into the 2026 season, what you really want to see from him is a strong first half offensively back at Double-A (he didn’t hit much in his 39-game cup there last year, and the lack of power was particularly noticeable), and at least the potential for a second half call up to Triple-A. It isn’t necessary, as far as age/level go, but that’s the caliber of prospect we want to see him become in 2026. No, it doesn’t mean you’d be looking at him as a 2027 big league replacement for an outgoing Nico Hoerner, for example, but you do want to have some more big-league-ready middle infielders at Iowa the next couple years. It’s an area of weakness in the system right now if there were a run of injuries, which is why the Cubs had to load up on minor league signings.
Jaxon Wiggins made his first spring appearance yesterday against the Angels, and the results weren’t great, but he knows it’s just about getting in the work right now. You can tell from his comments that he was specifically trying to work on getting all of his pitches in the zone, which, hey, might be part of the reason he gave up six hits over his 1.1 innings (with three strikeouts and no walks). These are competitive guys at all times, I know, but you like to see a mature attitude from a relatively inexperienced pitching prospect who knows he is absolutely NOT out there trying to win a big league job just yet. He has other things to focus on to set himself up for long-term success. Wiggins come in for some heavy praise at Baseball America, which discussed six pitching prospects who could be this year’s Jacob Misiorowski. Wiggins was one of them. Among the comments: “The righthander might have reached MLB last season were it not for a bout of arm fatigue that cost him a chunk of time. When healthy, however, he was overpowering. Like everybody else on this list, Wiggins is a massive human. He’s listed at 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds and delivers the kind of stuff implied by his frame. His fastball lives in the upper 90s and scrapes 100, and he complements it with a curveball, a changeup and a nasty slider that turns Louisville Sluggers into toothpicks.” In Baseball America’s rundown of 30 prospects for whom this could be a critical year, Kevin Alcantara is the (justifiable) selection for the Cubs. Among the comments: “[I]nconsistency has slowed his rise. Plate discipline and pitch recognition issues have limited his ability to fully tap into his plus-plus raw power, and his swing can produce too many ground balls and long outs. Even with solid in-zone contact and success against lefties, results have been uneven. The 2026 season will be key for Alcantara. If he can refine his approach and make better swing decisions, he could finally translate his tools into consistent offensive production while maintaining his value as a plus runner and center fielder.” Kevin Alcantara also got a mention at MLB Pipeline in a different one-for-each-organization situation, listed as the best power prospect in the Cubs organization: “Part of the trade that sent Anthony Rizzo to the Yankees in July 2021, the 6-foot-6 Alcántara possesses a rare combination of size and athleticism, and his package of tools includes well-above-average raw power that enables him to knock balls out of any part of the park. He still needs to improve his selectivity to maximize his damage, but he batted .266/.349/.470 with a career-high 17 homers as a 22-year-old at Triple-A.” Non-zero chance that, by the end of 2026, it’s a different Cubs outfield prospect who shows up as the top power-hitter in the organization (Ethan Conrad? Josiah Hartshorn? – dream scenario would have both of those guys in that conversation, with Conrad obviously more advanced). There’s not much in the way of Cubs-specific items here, but I found that read from MLB Pipeline on how their top-100 differs from the rest of the industry to be very interesting. Some Cubs prospect visuals from Rich out in Arizona:Pitcher @conschultz7 received a NRI to Spring Training and got in some live BP work on the back fields the other day. #Cubs #ST2026 pic.twitter.com/OBJoYesY5m
— Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22) February 27, 2026Greetings from the backfields! @tysouthisene Leonel Espinoza Angel Cepeda @bkalmer16 #Cubs #ST2026 pic.twitter.com/5FuXF1RcgF
— Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22) February 27, 2026Pitcher @brooks_caple in live BP action on the back fields. #Cubs #ST2026 pic.twitter.com/nZSgt0s473
— Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22) February 26, 2026Excited to see Christian Gordon back on the field and throwing again. Christian was a 2024 draft pick who made a few appearances in the ACL following the draft and pitched twice for the Pelicans in early 2025 before going on 60 day IL. #Cubs #ST2026 pic.twitter.com/anEO51iPpl
— Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22) February 25, 2026 Also, Cubs prospect glove spikes are about to explode:Always fun to see former Cubs players around camp. Former pitcher Ted Lilly was hanging with Tyler Zombro on Monday and then watched some pitchers throwing live BP. #Cubs #ST2026 pic.twitter.com/hJKhILoz39
— Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22) February 25, 2026 Patrick’s recurring MLB Draft Big Board series kicked off earlier today if you missed it, with the top-50 draft prospects for this year.Hence then, the article about cubs prospect notes rojas wiggins alcantara more was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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