CHICAGO -- After finishing up his pregame conversation with reporters on Wednesday, Cubs manager Craig Counsell headed up the dugout steps and found outfield prospect Ethan Conrad on the field. The team’s first-round pick in this year’s Draft, Conrad appreciated the bits of advice Counsell had to offer.
“It was awesome,” Conrad said. “Just being able to meet him was really cool. We were just talking about playing baseball every single day and how you've got to be grateful for it. It’s hard, but just embracing it. That’s probably the biggest thing. I’m just excited to get to work, for sure.”
The Cubs picked Conrad out of Wake Forest with the 17th overall pick in last month’s Draft and brought him into the fold with a $3,563,100 signing bonus. He had a chance to tour Wrigley Field on Wednesday and meet some of the players. Conrad laughed when noting that veteran Justin Turner joked around about the kid’s newfound wealth.
Conrad (ranked No. 6 on Pipeline’s Top 30 list for the Cubs) noted that he had the chance to chat briefly with center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and third baseman Matt Shaw, who were highly-touted prospects for the Cubs not that long ago. They are now key members of the Major League core group that also includes rookie pitcher Cade Horton.
The Cubs are a team in the thick of a playoff push, but it is not lost on Conrad that the roster is full of younger players in important roles.
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“They set the example for what you want to be,” Conrad said. “You kind of have in the back of your mind, you can't really take a year or two to get ready. You’ve got to start getting ready right now and take everything super serious. I think that’s something I’ve been doing, just locking in on everything -- sleep, nutrition, working out, training, stuff like that -- to prepare myself.”
Since signing with the Cubs, Conrad has spent his time working out at the team’s complex in Arizona. He has been focusing on strength training, while continuing to rehab from the left shoulder surgery that limited Conrad to 21 games this past season with Wake Forest. He noted that he is roughly a week away from resuming hitting.
The Cubs were intrigued by Conrad due to his offensive upside, which the team felt could have made him a Top 10 draftee before the shoulder injury set him back. In his limited action this season, the left-swinging Conrad hit .372 with seven homers, eight doubles, 27 RBIs, 29 hits, 30 runs scored, more walks (18) than strikeouts (14) and a 1.238 OPS.
Conrad said he has been watching a lot of Cubs games from the weight room in Arizona, but this week marked his first time ever visiting Chicago. He is hoping to someday find himself back in the Friendly Confines as one of those young core players helping Counsell’s Cubs push for a playoff spot.
“Being here is just unreal,” Conrad said. “I’m really just trying to take it all in. It’s so beautiful here. It feels like home.”