The South Bend Cubs are about to get a further infusion of bigger-name prospect talent, with outfielder Josiah Hartshorn and righty Mason McGwire reportedly getting the bump up from Low-A Myrtle Beach.
The Chicago Cubs are promoting Josiah Hartshorn to the South Bend Cubs (A+), per @_chaseford. pic.twitter.com/M8aBzIOHOf
The Chicago Cubs are promoting Mason McGwire to the South Bend Cubs (A+), per @_chaseford. pic.twitter.com/tdwGyo6ND5
— Milb Central (@milb_central) May 26, 2026Josiah Hartshorn, 19, is a switch-hitting outfielder whom the Cubs paid overslot to sign out of high school in the 6th round last year. He showed up to Spring Training uncommonly polished for a high schooler making his debut, and got the full-season assignment to Myrtle Beach. That was already impressive.
Then he impressed even more, hitting .273/.424/.460/149 wRC+, while walking more (19.2%) than he struck out (15.3%). You’ll want to see more in-game power given his size and profile, but he turned 19 in February, and he’s making his professional debut. There’s plenty of time for the power to come along, and what he’s already shown is enough to not only rocket him up to top-five prospect standing in the Cubs’ system (number three at Baseball America), but he’s also already under consideration for a top-100 overall spot by some publications.
And now, Hartshorn gets the promotion to High-A South Bend in his debut season out of high school before June. That’s very aggressive, and is the kind of special trajectory we don’t see too often. The Cubs clearly feel he can handle the jump in pitching. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some period of struggle before he hopefully stabilizes and continues raking later this year. Another promotion before the end of the season would be almost unheard of out of high school, so let’s just enjoy this.
Josiah Hartshorn sizzles his 2nd pro homer for Single-A @Pelicanbaseball!The @Cubs' 2025 sixth-rounder and No. 7 prospect has a 1.045 OPS through 13 games: pic.twitter.com/4Eu5fsk9lX
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 19, 2026Avast! Second homer of the night, this one courtesy of Hartshorn! pic.twitter.com/uniwBA29o9
— Myrtle Beach Pelicans (@Pelicanbaseball) May 15, 2026As for Mason McGwire, the 22-year-old righty trying to make a name for himself in pro ball separate from that of his famous father, his return to action after a lost 2025 season could not have gone much better. Over 30.0 innings at Myrtle Beach, McGwire posted a 2.40 ERA, a 3.17 FIP, a 36.6% K rate, an 8.1% BB rate, and an 0.90 HR/9. He was added to the Cubs’ top-30 (25) in the latest update at Baseball America.
Although the assignment made perfect sense for a guy who was drafted out of high school in 2022 as a bit of a project, who then who had short partial seasons in 2023 and 2024, and then had the arm issue in 2025, it’s clear that he’s just too good for Low-A right now. The promotion to High-A South Bend is the much more reasonable development challenge for him, and I can’t wait to see how it goes.
The rub with Mason McGwire is that, despite how little he’s pitched as a pro, his draft year means that he’s Rule 5 Draft eligible after this season. Typically you wouldn’t worry about a guy in that situation when he’s only just making his High-A debut, but with the projectability and the stuff? It’s at least a conversation that, if McGwire were to look really good over the next few months, maybe some rebuilding club tries to poach him for a bullpen stash. It’s rare, but it does happen.
That is all to say, it would be particularly wonderful if McGwire kept on dominating, got himself into a conversation about a promotion to Double-A Knoxville before the end of the year, and becomes a more standard 40-man rostering question come November. It would just make everything easier, and also would mean the Cubs had developed themselves a breakout pitching prospect.
Ah, I’m getting way ahead of myself. For today, I’ll just enjoy that McGwire (and Hartshorn) got the bump to South Bend.
Career high 8 K's in relief for Mason McGwire! pic.twitter.com/uIrnHDDN0M
— Myrtle Beach Pelicans (@Pelicanbaseball) May 14, 2026Hence then, the article about cubs minor league promotions of note josiah hartshorn and mason mcgwire 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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