Cubs grab RHP Townsend and his elite spin with 23rd overall pick

CHICAGO -- With an injury to another Ole Miss starter impacting the team’s staff, Cade Townsend was tasked with taking the ball in the semifinals of the SEC tournament as a freshman. The righty was nearing the end of an inconsistent tour, but none of that mattered with Louisiana State’s potent lineup looming.

Townsend pitched into the fifth inning for Mississippi, blanking an LSU team that would later go on to win the national title. That semifinals triumph -- led by a freshman righty with an ability to fire multiple, high-spin breaking balls -- was the only time during the 2025 season that the Tigers did not score a run.

“It just helped me understand that, man, I can pitch here and I can beat the best team,” Townsend said. “Ever since that game, I really had that mentality that I can pitch against anyone and I can pitch in every environment.”

The Cubs are counting on it.

On Saturday, the Cubs selected Townsend with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the MLB Draft. After indicating recently that Chicago would try to prioritize pitching this year, vice president of scouting Dan Kantrovitz and his team grabbed an arm in the first round for the first time since 2022, when Cade Horton went seventh overall.

The Cubs are drawn to pitchers who feature plus spin and velocity, and the 21-year-old Townsend (No. 35 on Pipeline’s Top 250 Draft prospects list) fits that description. While the right-hander sits around 94-97 mph with his fastball, his speciality is making a baseball dance. Townsend has three plus pitches (slider, cutter and curve), and mixed in a changeup.

“Spin is really my super power. That’s what I tell everyone,” Townsend said. “I just have a weird, innate ability to spin the ball and make the ball move left or right.”

Townsend is an athletic pitcher with the kind of foundation the Cubs will love to get into their lab and see how they can maximize all that he offers. And after attending the Draft combine and getting to know some of the staff leading Chicago's pitching infrastructure -- including vice president of pitching, Tyler Zombro -- Townsend was hoping to hear the Cubs call his name.

“They’re really process-oriented, really data-driven. Just a lot like me,” Townsend said. “We just really thought a lot alike. We really just connected well. That’s what I was looking for -- a good fit. I didn’t care what the pick was. I didn’t care what the money was. I really just want a team that’s a family. Who’s going to help support me get to the big leagues?”

It was the “dream pick” for Townsend, who said he plans on signing with the Cubs. The suggested value of the 23rd overall pick is a $3,947,600 signing bonus.

“The conversations leading up to the Draft were unreal,” Townsend said. “That’s the team I wanted to go to. I told my agent, I told my family, ‘This is my No. 1 pick, for sure.’ It was surreal getting picked. That’s what you dream of as a little kid. It’s just a new journey.”

During his sophomore season this year, the 6-foot-1 Townsend made 14 appearances as Ole Miss’ primary Saturday starter. The right-hander turned in a 3.94 ERA with 88 strikeouts against 22 walks in 64 innings. He was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and made the All-SEC Second Team.

Townsend’s 31.9% strikeout rate this year was a slight improvement over his freshman year, when he posted a 28.1% rate across 34 innings. The biggest upgrade came in his command. Townsend logged an 8.0% walk rate this season, compared to 13.1% as a freshman.

Townsend knows continuing to build on that control, especially with his fastball, will be crucial as he moves into this next phase of his career.

“What I want to improve on is definitely just fastball command, fastball execution,” Townsend said. “And really just understanding what I’m doing on the mound to get big league hitters out.”