When the Cubs selected Josiah Hartshorn in the sixth round of the 2025 Draft, they were banking on the fact that they could use savings from earlier picks to bring the switch-hitter -- a highly regarded prospect out of the California high school ranks -- into the organization.
After paying him the equivalent of second-round money to forgo a Texas A&M commitment and get his pro career started, Hartshorn, who looked like a steal from the moment he signed on the dotted line, hasn't stopped hitting.
In just 39 games with Single-A Myrtle Beach, the 19-year-old hit his way to High-A, becoming the first high school position player from the 2025 Draft class to reach the level. After collecting a double and a pair of RBIs in his South Bend debut Tuesday, Hartshorn upped the ante with a career-high five RBIs on Wednesday en route to a 13-5 win over Fort Wayne at Four Winds Field.
The biggest knock of the day by the Cubs’ No. 8 prospect came in the form of a two-run homer -- his first at High-A -- off Ty Adcock (Padres), a right-hander with 23 big league innings to his credit. The other two hits were line-drive singles to his pull side (also off righties), the latter of which plated a pair of runs.
Plate discipline is a big reason why Hartshorn became just the sixth player in his age-19 campaign to appear in a Midwest League contest this year.
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He ran a 19.2 percent walk rate at Single-A, drawing 34 free passes (to just 27 strikeouts) in 39 contests. Hartshorn began his pro career with a 21-game on-base streak and reached safely in 92.3 percent of his games with Myrtle Beach prior to the promotion.
All six of Hartshorn’s pro homers thus far have come left-handed. That's particularly notable since he hit almost exclusively right-handed for his first three years of high school due to a left elbow injury, but reintroduced the lefty stroke toward the end of his junior year.
The bump in level brought a new wrinkle: after playing exclusively center or right field since late April, Hartshorn made each of his first two defensive starts for the Cubs at first base. The South Bend outfield contingent already consists of Kane Kepley (CHC No. 6) and Kade Snell (CHC No. 26), two fixtures who played a role in the club's historic three-game run-scoring streak earlier this month.
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Hartshorn ranks near the top of the organizational leaderboard in numerous offensive categories, including on-base percentage (.430, third), OPS (.927, third) and extra-base hits (17, fifth). Entering the day, he trailed only new teammate Cole Mathis (CHC No. 14) in wRC+ (150) among Cubs farmhands.
Even at Single-A, Hartshorn faced a pitcher younger than him on just two occasions. One of the organization’s -- and all of baseball's -- fastest-rising prospects seems like he's up to the new challenge at High-A.