Cubs tab Wake Forest outfielder Conrad with 'a lot of upside' at No. 17

CHICAGO -- The Cubs’ recent track record in the MLB Draft has been identifying players who have the potential to climb quickly to the big leagues. That is a trend that had outfielder Ethan Conrad excited after he heard Chicago call his name in the first round on Sunday night.

“That’s definitely the goal for me, is just to get up there as quickly as possible,” Conrad said. “I think the quicker that I can get up there and be helping out the Cubs’ big league team is going to be super special, and I'm just looking forward to making that happen as soon as possible.”

The Cubs selected Wake Forest’s Conrad with the 17th overall pick, adding a potent college bat to the fold. This comes after the North Siders drafted Cam Smith out of Florida State and Matt Shaw out of Maryland in the first round in the previous two years, respectively. Smith is currently in the Majors with the Astros and Shaw is in his rookie tour with the Cubs.

Dan Kantrovitz, the Cubs’ vice president of scouting, and his team of scouts who have been following Conrad for the past couple years felt the 21-year-old was on a trajectory to be in the first 10 picks in the first round. That changed when a left shoulder injury -- one requiring season-ending surgery -- limited the outfielder to 21 games this season.

While Kantrovitz feels the Cubs just got “exceptional value” with the 17th pick, he hesitated to describe Conrad (ranked as the No. 28 Draft prospect per MLB Pipeline) as a fast mover.

“You never want to put that tag on somebody,” Kantrovitz said. “I think the first thing is to get him healthy. He’s probably going to take the rest of the summer and fall to recover and rehab and then get to Spring Training 100 percent.”

Conrad sustained a dislocated left shoulder and a labral tear while diving for a ball in a game in March, leading to surgery a month later via Dr. Christopher S. Ahmad (head physician for the Yankees). The prospect said he has full range of motion back and is focusing on strength work, putting him roughly a month away from resuming hitting.

It is Conrad’s hitting abilities that have the Cubs especially excited.

“We feel like he’s a potentially dynamic talent,” Kantrovitz said. “There’s an increasing slug component there. I think he’s somebody that can turn a double into a triple with his speed. And I think he’s somebody that is going to be able to put pressure on a defense in a number of different ways.

“He’s still filling out. He’s still getting stronger. But his decision-making, his ability to make contact, his ability to hit for damage, really all three of those pillars are there. And we think he’s just getting better across the board.”

In the games Conrad did play for the Demon Deacons, he slashed .372/.495/.744 with seven home runs, eight doubles and 27 RBIs. Conrad finished with more walks (18) than strikeouts (14), scoring 30 runs, stealing four bases and posting a 1.238 OPS in 97 plate appearances.

“[There’s] a lot of upside on this guy,” MLB.com Pipeline expert Jim Callis said on the Draft broadcast. “He’s one of the more well-rounded players in the college class. He can get aggressive at the plate but makes a lot of contact. He could be an above-average hitter for average and power if it all comes together, and a chance to play center field.”

The numbers Conrad posted in a small sample with Wake Forest were in line with the production he put up for Marist College in his sophomore season prior to transferring. Injury or not, Conrad had the look of a first-rounder, and the Cubs got a potential steal with him falling to No. 17 (pick value: $4,750,800).

In 55 games for Marist in 2024, Conrad turned in a .389/.467/.704 slash line with nine homers, 18 doubles and an NCAA Division I-leading 13 triples. He had 52 RBIs, 55 runs scored and 17 stolen bases, while walking 27 times (compared to 32 strikeouts). According to Baseball America, the lefty-hitting Conrad also had a 91 percent in-zone contact rate.

Conrad then excelled for Bourne in the Cape Cod Summer League in 2024, hitting at a .385 clip in 30 games.

“That summer in the Cape was really the turning point for my career,” Conrad said. “It’s the best of the best going at it. And that was just a huge moment for my career to really just let myself know, ‘I can do this for sure,’ and really just dominate. It was awesome.”

By then, Conrad was very much on the Cubs’ radar.

“He became a top target going into the spring,” Kantrovitz said. “To kind of see the ascent from Marist to the Cape and then into Wake Forest, becoming one of the better players in the country, was pretty fun to watch. And it definitely got our attention.”

Second round (No. 56): Kane Kepley, OF

• Bats/throws: L/L
• School: University of North Carolina
• Pick value: $1,680,000
• Calling Card: Kepley, 21, headed into the Draft as MLB Pipeline’s No. 84-ranked prospect. He boasts elite speed (45 stolen bases this year), great contact ability and has the makings of a solid center fielder. In 61 games this year for UNC, Kepley hit .291/.451/.444 with three homers, 13 doubles, seven triples, 30 RBIs, 74 runs and twice as many walks (44) as strikeouts (22).
• Quotable: “He can impact the ball, but his game’s not power. It’s speed. He’s a plus, plus defender out in center field. He stole 40-plus bags this year in the ACC. Led off on a good team there at North Carolina. He’s somebody that can put a lot of pressure on the defense and just really impact the game. It’s not too often you see somebody who has his ability to make contact, spray the ball around and play center field the way he can.” -- Kantrovitz

Third round (No. 90): Dominick Reid, RHP

• School: Abilene Christian (Texas)
• Pick value: $865,500
• Calling Card: Ranked as the No. 209 prospect ahead of the Draft, the 21-year-old Reid is a 6-foot-3 righty with an athletic frame and a plus changeup. Per Pipeline’s scouting report on Reid, he led Division I pitchers with 66 strikeouts via the change this season. As Abilene’s Friday night starter, Reid had a 3.26 ERA with 112 strikeouts against 27 walks in 88 1/3 innings. He sits around 91-94 mph with his fastball and does have a breaking ball, but the changeup with fade and sink is his signature weapon.
• Quotable: “His changeup, he’s just got a natural feel for it. It comes from a pretty nasty arm slot that’s tough to pick up, and he’ll throw it to both lefties and righties. But he’s also got a feel to spin it on a couple different axes. It kind of blends between a curveball and slider at times, but there's a definite feel to spin the baseball. And he’s touched mid-90s this year.” -- Kantrovitz