Hartshorn celebrates elevation to Cubs' No. 1 prospect status with High-A homer
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Josiah Hartshorn has spent his first pro season impressing anyone watching him play. On Thursday night, he added a bit of showmanship to his growing repertoire.
Soon after he moved atop the Cubs’ Top 30 Prospects list, Hartshorn homered and reached base three times to power High-A South Bend past Wisconsin, 4-2, at Four Winds Field.
The performance was hardly out of the ordinary for the 2025 Draft pick, whose debut campaign has quickly established him as a slugger to watch in the Minors.
Hartshorn’s two-run jack in the seventh inning was a no-doubter, clearing the walkway in right-center field while pushing him past the 70-RBI mark for the season. MLB’s No. 62 prospect has driven in 71 runs, which leads the organization and is tied for the most with Caden Bodine (TB No. 3/MLB No. 92) among first-year Minor Leaguers.
Hartshorn also doubled, walked and scored three times, snapping a 1-for-14 slide over his previous four games.
Selected in the sixth round out of Orange Lutheran High School (Calif.), the New York City-born Hartshorn has been as steady as any Cubs prospect in 2026. The switch-hitter began his career at Single-A Myrtle Beach, where he posted a .884 OPS over 39 games before his promotion to South Bend on May 26.
His meteoric rise from the 181st pick to top-ranked Cubs prospect might be surprising in some fashion, but his performance more than validates it. Hartshorn has consistently punished pitchers with a blend of impact power and an advanced discipline of the strike zone -- he has walked 58 times, good for a solid 15.2 percent rate.
The ability to drive the ball from both sides of the plate opened eyes in the Carolina League and has been even more impressive since his promotion. Rather than slowing down against more experienced competition, Hartshorn has looked right at home. He's continued to barrel baseballs with authority to all fields while showing the type of swing decisions that led evaluators to project an impact middle-of-the-order bat.
Hartshorn’s swing features plenty of raw power, evidenced by him slugging 11 of his 16 roundtrippers while collecting 25 extra-base hits and 46 RBIs in 46 Midwest League games.
Overall, the 6-foot, 190-pound OF/1B has slashed .275/.397/.503 in 85 contests.
For a player who has made a habit of reaching new heights this season, Wednesday represented another fitting step forward. The ranking next to his name may have changed, but Hartshorn's approach has not.