Chicago Cubs select 20 players from 2025 MLB Draft |
CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today completed the 2025 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The club made 17 selections today, totaling 20 during the two-day event.
With their 17 selections today, the Cubs took 13 college players (10 pitchers, two catchers and one outfielder) and four high school players (two pitchers, one outfielder and one infielder). Overall during the draft, the Cubs selected 13 pitchers (11 right-handed and two left-handed), four outfielders, two catchers and one infielder, totaling 16 college players and four high school players. The Cubs began the day by taking four pitchers in seven selections in rounds 4-10, righthander Kaleb Wing in the fourth round (121st overall) out of Scotts Valley High School (Calif.), lefthander Pierce Coppola in the seventh round (211th overall) out of the University of Florida, righthander Jake Knapp in the eighth round (241st overall) out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lefthander Colton Book in the ninth round (271st overall) out of Saint Joseph’s University (Pa.). Chicago rounded out its top 10 selections by drafting two outfielders, Kade Snell in the fifth round (151st overall) out of the University of Alabama and Josiah Harshorn in the sixth round (181st overall) out of Orange Lutheran High School (Calif.), before taking catcher Justin Stransky in the 10th round (271st overall) from Fresno State University. The Cubs concluded the day by selecting six-straight pitchers from rounds 11-16, before selecting position players in two of the last four rounds, catcher Logan Poteet in the 17th round (511th overall) out of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, infielder Caleb Barnett in the 19th round (571st overall) out of Mountain Brook High School (Ala.) Wing, 18, pitched in 10 games during his senior season at Scotts Valley High School in California, posting a 1.58 ERA (8 ER/45.2 IP) with 79 strikeouts. Wing’s father, Ryan, was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the second round of the 2001 draft. The six-foot two-inch Wing is ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 11 right-handed pitcher in California and is committed to Loyola Marymount University (Calif.). Wing was recommended by area scout Gabe Zappin. Snell, 22, batted a combined .347 (125-for-360) with 22 doubles, one triple, 16 home runs, 82 RBI and a .982 OPS in 101 career games across two seasons at the University of Alabama. He was named a Second Team All-American by ABCA/Rawlings and to the First Team All-SEC in 2025 after he hit .363 (77-for-212) with 13 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 52 RBI and a 1.039 OPS in 58 games. He struck out in just 6.9% of his plate appearances this year, the lowest strikeout rate in the SEC. Prior to his time at Alabama, Snell attended Auburn University (Ala.) in 2021 and Wallace Community College (Ala.) from 2022-23. Snell was recommended by area scout James Parker. Knapp, 24, was awarded the National Pitcher of Year by the College Baseball Foundation and was named a consensus First Team All-American by NCBWA, ABCA, CBF and D1Baseball in 2025 after going 14-0 with a 2.02 ERA (23 ER/102.1 IP) in 16 games (15 starts) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The righthander’s 14-0 record was the best mark in the nation and the most single-season wins without a defeat in North Carolina history. Prior to his time at North Carolina, Knapp spent the 2021-22 seasons at Walters State Community College (Tenn.). Knapp was recommended by area scout Billy Swoope. Stransky, 22, posted a career .312 average (109-for-349) with 17 doubles, two triples, 15 home runs, 68 RBI and a .902 OPS in 100 games in two seasons with Fresno State University. In 2025, he was named a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Collegiate Catcher of Year Award and to the All-Mountain West First Team after hitting .316 (75-for-237) with nine doubles, two triples, 12 home runs, 45 RBI and a .924 OPS in 60 games. He made 58 starts behind the plate and threw out 18 of 20 runners attempting to steal (90.0%). Stransky was recommended by area scout Gabe Zappin. Franklin, 19, is the brother of Cubs minor league pitcher, Kohl Franklin. The right-handed pitcher is committed to the University of Oklahoma. He was recommended by area scout Ty Nichols. Here is a look at Chicago’s 20 selections from the 2025 First-Year Player Draft: Rd. (Pick) Player Pos. School Birthday B T Ht. Wt. 1 (17) Ethan Conrad OF Wake Forest University (N.C.) 7/5/04 L L 6-3 220 2 (56) Kane Kepley OF University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2/14/04 L L 5-8 180 3 (90) Dominick Reid RHP Abilene Christian University (Tex.) 2/25/04 L R 6-2 210 4 (121) Kaleb Wing RHP Scotts Valley High School (Calif.) 1/12/07 R R 6-2 180 5 (151) Kade Snell OF University of Alabama 7/29/02 L L 6-1 220 6 (181) Josiah Hartshorn OF Orange Lutheran High School (Calif.) 2/2/07 S L 6-2 220 7 (211) Pierce Coppola LHP University of Florida 12/17/02 L L 6-8 245 8 (241) Jake Knapp RHP University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 8/30/00 R R 6-5 270 9 (271) Colton Book LHP Saint Joseph’s University (Pa.) 8/21/02 R L 6-4 210 10 (301)Justin Stransky C Fresno State University (Calif.) 9/10/02 R R 6-1 180 11 (331) Eli Jerzembeck RHP University of South Carolina 6/17/03 R R 6-2 185 12 (361) Connor Spencer RHP Ole Miss University 11/4/00 R R 6-2 225 13 (391) Nate Williams RHP Mississippi State University 9/26/01 R R 6-4 250 14 (421) Kaemyn Franklin RHP Victory Christian High School (Okla.) 1/10/06 R R 6-3 185 15 (451) Noah Edders RHP Troy University (Ala.) 6/6/03 R R 6-4 232 16 (481) Riely Hunsaker RHP Lamar University (Tex.) 3/24/03 R R 6-4 235 17 (511) Logan Poteet C University of North Carolina at Charlotte 11/12/03 R R 6-2 215 18 (541) Connor Knox RHP George Mason University (Va.) 6/29/04 L R 6-0 200 19 (571) Caleb Barnett INF Mountain Brook High School (Ala.) 9/19/06 R R 6-5 210 20 (601) Freddy Rodriguez RHP University of Hawaii 4/13/04 R R 6-3 205
