Once a standout two-way player in college, Cole Mathis took another step toward putting his pitching career fully behind him in the Arizona Fall League. He had only hit in 2024 at College of Charleston because of elbow trouble, which required Tommy John surgery in August after the Cubs took him in the second round of the Draft that July.
He returned to play 29 games with Single-A Myrtle Beach, so the number that mattered the most in the Arizona Fall League was 16, the number of games he played for the Mesa Solar Sox. He manned first base for 15 of them, though he did get a few reps at third as well. His transition to full-time position player is in full swing.
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“I've still got the pitcher's brain and I think I'll never lose that,” said Mathis, the Cubs’ No. 17 prospect. “But yeah, I definitely feel like a hitter now that I've been able to play the field fully. I definitely feel 100 percent like a hitter.”
Mathis hit .280/.439/.400 with a pair of homers, 15 RBIs and nearly as many walks (15) as strikeouts (16) over his 50 plate appearances. More than anything, the AFL experience was important for a guy still getting his professional footing and hoping to use his time to springboard up the Cubs’ ladder in 2026.
“For me, it's just been learning from my teammates, some of the guys that have been in Double-A and Triple-A, just kind of picking their brain, learning what they've learned through their experiences,” Mathis said. “And then, just learning through my own failures and just making adjustments based off that.”
Here’s how the rest of Chicago’s contingent fared in the Fall League:
Owen Ayers, C: The 2024 19th-round pick was a deserving recipient of the AFL’s Breakout Player of the Year award after hitting .379/.539/.591 with three homers and 16 RBIs for Mesa. He led the league in walks (22) and was among the leaders in hits and total bases. For that reason, he was chosen as the catcher on MLB Pipeline’s All-AFL team.
Ed Howard, SS/2B/OF: The 2020 first-round pick made up for lost at-bats after playing in just 21 games during the 2025 regular season. He hit .222/.354/.259 with four steals in 17 games while adding to his defensive versatility, playing outfield for the first time while continuing to get reps at both middle infield spots.
Luis Martinez-Gomez, RHP: He still needs to work on his command, but Martinez-Gomez is showing his stuff has a chance to play and get advanced hitters out. The reliever relied on a sinker that topped out at 97 mph and a nasty changeup to whiff 16 in 9 1/3 innings, though he also walked five. He did hold hitters to a .176 average-against.
Koen Moreno, RHP: Moreno amassed 14 innings and was largely effective, missing bats with a 92-93 mph fastball and a mid-80s changeup (18 K’s). He finished with a 3.86 ERA and a .196 average-against while also representing the Cubs in the Fall Stars Game.
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Mathew Peters, RHP: Peters did pick up a save over his eight appearances and nine innings of work, but the right-hander really struggled with his command. He walked 13 (striking out five) while allowing nine hits en route to a 9.00 ERA for the fall.
Logan Poteet, C/1B: The Cubs took Poteet in Round 17 of this year’s Draft out of UNC Charlotte and he appeared in just six AFL games, three at first base and two behind the plate. He went 3-for-19 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs with his limited playing time.
JP Wheat, RHP: One of the harder throwers in the Fall League this year, Wheat topped out at 102 mph with his fastball, and he threw six of the nine hardest pitches in the AFL. But he didn’t have a good sense of where it was going, walking 16 in 5 1/3 innings.