The system-wide off-day on Mondays always gets me in the mood to talk Cubs prospects on Tuesday, ahead of the return to action …
Here’s the full discussion on top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins having his next start at Iowa pushed back (day still TBD), from Jed Hoyer via the Tribune: “He was just dealing with some soreness, so we pushed him back, nothing alarming. Sort of early season stuff, but we kind of pushed his start back as a result. … I’m not going to go into more detail cause it’s just getting pushed back — you don’t want to push guys in April, so we felt like the right thing to do was to push his start a little bit.” I know how many of you are probably receiving that – with extreme skepticism – and, although I won’t fight you on that instinct to be dubious of Cubs descriptions of pitcher injuries, I do think it’s notable that the initial word on all of this from farm director Jason Kanzler was that the Cubs were being “strategic.” I guess it’s possible Kanzler was just flat wrong or flat lying, but that seems improbable. It’s also possible, and slightly more probable, that information was still developing when he spoke. But if you credit what he said, and combine it with what Hoyer said, you get the picture of a guy whose arm was maybe not quite feeling tip-top, and a guy who could be on the big league radar later this year, but who threw very few innings last year. So resting him for a sore arm is true. And also, being strategic about when to push him a bit, is also true. Remember, there’s science to this pitcher health thing, but also a fair bit of art and guesswork. Pedro Ramirez’s burning start to the season got him honors at MLB Pipeline, making the team of the week at second base:“2B: Pedro Ramírez, Iowa Cubs (Triple-A)Cubs No. 8.313/.371/.688, 8 G, 10-for-32, 3 HR, 3 2B, 7 RBI, 8 R, 3 BB, 8 K, 3 SB, 1 CS
Playing at the highest level of the Minors for the first time, Ramirez has shown off his advanced hit tool while splitting time between the keystone and hot corner. Not only is he making lots of contact as usual, he’s making it loudly, as he’s already halfway to tying his career-high in homers (eight) and is running a 62.5 percent hard-hit rate during this period. The Venezuela native previously made a Prospect Team of the Week during the fourth week of the 2024 season.”
Other honors in the system, with South Bend righty Brooks Caple winning pitcher of the week for the Midwest League, Knoxville righty Grant Kipp winning pitcher of the week for the Southern League, and his teammate Karson Simas, a utility infielder the Cubs signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, winning player of the week for the Southern League. Simas, 24, has had a couple cracks at Triple-A (both brief, both with the Red Sox) and couldn’t quite stick. If the playing time opens up there or if the Cubs believe he’s made himself into a true big league prospect, Simas may get another Triple-A chance later this year. Speaking of Knoxville, it was great to see a strong outing from Jake Knapp this weekend, only the second start of his pro career:Cubs 2025 8th-round pick Jake Knapp dominated in his second pro start today:4.0 IP | 3 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 5 KGood life on a mid-90s fastball, paired with a sharp slider. pic.twitter.com/bGQTctrGng
— Carson Wolf (@TheWrigleyWire) April 12, 2026 Jefferson Rojas (Double-A Knoxville) was pulled for a pinch hitter this weekend, and then didn’t play the next day. Hopefully it’s not an injury situation, especially after his scorching hot start to the season. Fellow shortstop prospect Angel Cepeda (High-A South Bend) has also missed a couple games after suffering an apparent leg injury. The 20-year-old had been given a tough assignment after a hot second half at Low-A in 2025, but had been whiffing a whole lot, so hopefully this doesn’t interrupt the development time too badly. The Cubs dipped into their bonus pool funds in 2024 to make sure they could sign 11th round pick Eli Lovich (that’s the first non-bonus-pool round, remember, so you often see teams reach for a harder-to-sign, but-highly-desired pick). We haven’t yet seen the offensive upside pop – he clearly still had some physical developing to do after the draft – but hopefully he’s going to break out this year:Eli Lovich cranked his first home run of the season tonight, now slashing .316/.500/.474 through six games with Myrtle Beach.With a smooth swing that generates solid bat speed, there’s room for more power to come as his 6’4” frame continues to fill out. pic.twitter.com/41742Z5Epd
— Carson Wolf (@TheWrigleyWire) April 13, 2026 We’re still at only 26 PAs on the season for Lovich, but he’s hitting .316/.500/.474 with more walks than strikeouts. He’s just 20 years old and came into the season with just 200 PAs at Low-A, so even if he didn’t reach High-A South Bend until midseason, that’d still be a win. (Oh, and no, your eyes aren’t deceiving you: Lovich really does look a LOT like Christian Yelich at the plate.) I just cannot get over this combination, even as I know I need to chilllllll until he gets well past 100 PAs:Cubs prospect Josiah Hartshorn, who was drafted out of high school and is making his pro debut in full-season ball, has gone to the plate 42 times so far this season. He, a big hulking slugger, has struck out ONCE.
— Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) April 13, 2026The combination of age, experience, power, discipline, and contact are so absurd that I have to keep telling myself to slow down. It's only 42 PAs …
— Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) April 13, 2026 Maybe Lovich and Hartshorn will explode, Ethan Conrad will hit the ground running, Kane Kepley will keep raking, and Kevin Alcantara will realize his fullest potential – and the Cubs will suddenly have five outfield prospects in the top-100! (That … will not happen. But it’s just kind of funny to think about how much of the system’s highest offensive upside is in the outfield group right now.) Speaking of Alcantara:Kevin Alcantara is enjoying a strong start to the season. While we’ve seen impressive stretches from him before, he believes this could be a sign of some much-needed consistency. t.co/XPZuXuiLz8
— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) April 13, 2026 We can officially no longer include mention of Moises Ballesteros in this space, as he has now graduated from prospectdom. All the best to him on his voyage to being a helluva great big league hitter.Hence then, the article about cubs prospect notes wiggins ramirez simas knapp lovich hartshorn 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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