What To Expect From New Cubs Infielder BJ Murray Jr.

MLB rosters will officially expand on Tuesday. 

Each team will now have the luxury of keeping 28 players on its roster for the remainder of the season, instead of the usual 26. On Tuesday, every team can call up one additional position player and one additional pitcher. 

One of the two players that the Chicago Cubs will be calling up ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers is infielder BJ Murray Jr. Murray is the Cubs’ No. 19 overall prospect on MLB Pipeline and is in the midst of a strong year in the minors. 

The Cubs selected Murray in the 15th round of the 2021 MLB Draft. He slowly worked his way up the minor league ranks over the years and put together a few strong seasons early in his professional career. Back in 2022, the switch-hitting first baseman hit .286 with eight home runs and 53 RBI across 95 games at Single-A and High-A. 

But Murray struggled a bit with consistency in both the 2024 and 2025 seasons. He only hit .196 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI in 103 games at Double-A and Triple-A in 2024. Those struggles (especially at Triple-A) forced Chicago to actually keep him at Double-A for the entire 2025 campaign. That seemed to help, since he hit a career-high 20 home runs, drove in 89 runs, and stole 20 bases with the Knoxville Smokies last year. 

Murray then started the 2026 season with the Iowa Cubs, posting consistent numbers all year. He slashed .294/.395/.500 with 16 home runs, 24 doubles, nine triples, 68 RBI, and nine stolen bases across 118 games at Triple-A before his promotion. 

The 26-year-old switch-hitter is definitely deserving of being called up. He has hit the ball well in each of the past two seasons, and his underlying metrics at Triple-A are quite encouraging. Murray had a .364 xwOBA, .270 expected batting average, .451 expected slugging percentage, 90.3 mph average exit velocity, 45.7% hard-hit rate, and a 22.4% pull air rate with the Iowa Cubs in 2026. 

Now, Cubs fans shouldn’t expect Murray to see many plate appearances while he is up in the big leagues. He is a pure depth addition for the stretch run and likely Michael Busch’s direct backup for the time being. 

However, his time in the big leagues will be a clear learning experience. He was already with the team on Monday to get up to speed and will try to learn as much as he can from the bench.