Cubs preparing for ‘sweet spot’ in first round of Draft

CHICAGO – Dan Kantrovitz, the Cubs’ vice president of scouting, saw an uptick in text messages from scouts when Chicago was facing Houston last month at Daikin Park. For one night, the collective work of the Cubs’ scouting department was in the spotlight.

On the mound for the Cubs on June 27 was righty Cade Horton – picked by the North Siders in the first round of the 2022 Draft. Matt Shaw, Chicago’s first-round pick in ‘23, was starting at third base. And then there was Cam Smith – the Cubs’ first-rounder in ‘24 – starting in right field and hitting cleanup for the Astros.

“It was kind of like a postseason game for our scouts,” Kantrovitz said. “They’re seeing the guys that they just drafted out there competing – three of them at one time, which is pretty rare. It was a lot of fun.”

Kantrovitz added that seeing the Cubs’ last three first-round picks on the field at the same time so soon created a sense of “purpose and inspiration” as his department prepares for the upcoming Draft. The North Siders will have pick No. 17 in the first round of the Draft, which begins on Sunday night.

A year ago, the Cubs selected Smith with the 14th overall pick in the first round and expected him to climb the organizational ranks swiftly as a third baseman. Plans changed in December, when Chicago shipped Smith, Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski to the Astros in order to reel in star outfielder Kyle Tucker.

“Our goal is to draft good players,” Kantrovitz said. “Some are going to be playing for other teams. To the extent that we can help [the front office] with their construction of a championship-caliber club, we’re all in.”

• Day 1 picks: 17, 56, 90
• Bonus pool allotment: $9,636,800, 22nd in MLB
• Last year’s top pick: 3B Cam Smith -- The Cubs flipped the 22-year-old Smith to the Astros as part of the blockbuster trade to land Tucker over the offseason. Chicago knew Smith had the type of bat to move up the ladder quickly, but Houston offered an extremely fast ramp to the Majors. After Smith hit .342 with a 1.130 OPS in Spring Training, the Astros handed him the keys to right field for Opening Day.
• Breakout 2024 pick: RHP Ryan Gallagher, sixth round -- The Cubs made Gallagher their first pitcher selected in the ‘24 Draft, taking the righty in the sixth round out of University of California-Santa Barbara. Ranked No. 17 on Pipeline’s Top 30 list for the Cubs, the 22-year-old Gallagher had 81 strikeouts against 16 walks with a 3.70 ERA in 65 2/3 innings (13 starts) to begin this season with High-A South Bend.

The rapid rise of both Shaw and Smith shows that the Cubs do have a knack for finding talent in that middle section of the Draft’s first round. Shaw was selected at No. 13 overall in ‘23 – one slot below Smith in the following Draft. Picking at No. 17 this season creates a similar read-and-react approach for the Cubs’ scouting department.

The Cubs have a tendency to lean toward college players in the early phase of the Draft, though Kantrovitz did cite prep position players as a strength of this year’s crop.

MLB.com Pipeline expert Jim Callis has mentioned shortstops Wehiwa Aloy (Arkansas) and Daniel Pierce (Mill Creek High School in Georgia), outfielder Brendan Summerhill (Arizona), second baseman Gavin Kilen (Tennessee), and pitchers Gage Wood (Arkansas) and Tyler Bremner (UC-Santa Barbara) as possible targets for the Cubs.

Kantrovitz referred to their pick as an “interesting sweet spot” in the first round, because it is hard to rule anything out beyond the players projected at the very top of the Draft. The Cubs can identify a pool of players and see which in the group might drop to them at No. 17.

“We’ll wait to see how it unfolds in front of us,” Kantrovitz said.

It could be a chance to find another player capable of a quick climb to the Majors.

“I’m, honestly, really proud of our amateur scouting department,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “We had Horton, Shaw and Cam Smith all playing in the same game. … It’s a testament to those guys working really hard and doing a really good job.”