This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO -- The Cubs took a chance on Jaxon Wiggins when the club snagged him in the second round of the 2023 Draft. The righty missed that season with the University of Arkansas due to Tommy John surgery, but Chicago’s evaluators were intrigued by a pitcher described as a “deluxe athlete” at the time.
Two years later, the 23-year-old Wiggins is healthy and pitching like the high-ceiling prospect the Cubs envisioned when they snagged him with the 68th overall selection (a compensatory pick for Willson Contreras exiting via free agency). Wiggins has climbed to Double-A Knoxville, is ranked No. 9 on Pipeline’s Cubs list and looks poised to push for a spot in the Top 100 rankings soon enough.
“He's moved [beyond] what I consider 'out-athleting' the competition,” Cubs director of player development Jason Kanzler said recently. “He's just [going from being] a supreme athlete with big powerful pitches and stuff, to becoming an actual refined professional pitcher. And that's a great combination. That's a great development for him.”
Wiggins is a 6-foot-6 righty who can sit around 96-97 mph with his fastball (touching triple digits) and features a plus breaking ball and changeup. One criticism that has followed the pitcher is his struggles with command, but he has seen a steady improvement with his walk rate since last year (13.9% at High-A in ‘24, 12.4% at High-A in ‘25 and 8.4% at Double-A in ‘25).
“He's not a thrower anymore. He's a pitcher,” Kanzler said. “And with his power stuff, that's very exciting.”
In Wiggins’ latest appearance for Double-A Knoxville on Saturday, he worked 5 2/3 innings to begin a no-hitter for the Smokies -- the team’s first since 2022. The right-hander racked up 20 whiffs, struck out nine and issued three walks with one run allowed.
Through a dozen appearances (11 starts) this season, Wiggins has spun a 1.92 ERA with 70 strikeouts against 23 walks in 56 1/3 innings between High-A South Bend and Double-A. He has allowed 31 hits, including just two home runs. Since being bumped up to Knoxville, Wiggins has a 2.10 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 10 walks in 30 innings (six starts).
“The Cubs needed some arms to step forward and he has,” MLB.com Pipeline expert Jim Callis said.