Prioritizing mound talent and elite sluggers, Chicago’s strategic haul features high-upside arms and raw power threats poised to revitalize a farm system hungry for impact starters.
The 2026 MLB Draft has come and gone.
The Chicago Cubs made 21 draft selections over the weekend. They primarily focused on pitching, taking 16 pitchers and only five position players. For an organization that lacks top-end pitching in its farm system, it’s not surprising to see a pitcher-focused draft.
The Cubs started off their draft by selecting Ole Miss starting pitcher Cade Townsend with the 23rd overall pick and then took 11 pitchers with their first 13 selections. Chicago’s front office only took two position players within the first 12 rounds.
With the Cubs' draft now officially complete, now is a good time to look at some of their best picks from this past weekend’s draft. These three picks really stand out post-draft.
OF Caden Sorrell, Texas A&M - No. 62 overall
After taking Townsend in the first round, the Cubs decided to take a college hitter with their next pick in the second round. They selected Texas A&M outfielder Caden Sorrell with the 62nd overall pick.
Sorrell fell a bit in the draft process due to some major swing-and-miss concerns. The 21-year-old had a 32% whiff rate and a 23% strikeout rate in his final college season with the Aggies. That’s obviously a part of his game that he has to clean up if he wants to reach his full potential.
However, the talent is there for him to live up to his high draft status. He slashed .341/.434/.743 with a career-high 23 home runs, 20 doubles, 76 RBI, and 11 stolen bases across 56 games this past college season.
Sorrell has the potential to be a 25+ home run hitter while also chipping in double-digit stolen bases. If he can work on being more consistent, this could be a steal for the Cubs in the second round. He was ranked No. 33 on MLB Pipeline’s big board.
1B Myles Bailey, Florida State - No. 75 overall
Florida State first baseman Myles Bailey might be Chicago’s most exciting pick in the entire draft. The Cubs used the compensation pick they received from losing Kyle Tucker in the offseason on the lefty slugger.
Bailey was originally drafted out of high school by the Chicago White Sox in the 20th round of the 2024 MLB Draft. But he decided to go to college, where he was one of the top sluggers for the Florida State Seminoles.
The Florida native hit .327 with 19 home runs and 56 RBI in his freshman season with the Seminoles in 2025 and then hit .363 with 13 home runs and 33 RBI across 26 games in 2026. Although he missed more than half of this past college season due to a leg injury, he was nothing short of spectacular.
Bailey had a .490 xwOBA, a .641 expected slugging, a 99.1 mph average exit velocity, a 64.6% hard-hit rate, a 29.2% barrel rate, and a 39.6% sweet-spot rate in those 26 contests. While he does need to cut down on the whiffs (36.4% rate), he might have the best raw power in this year’s class.
P Chase Meyer, West Virginia - No. 277 overall
The Cubs certainly took a gamble on West Virginia pitcher Chase Meyer. They selected him in the ninth round of the 2026 MLB Draft despite only throwing 3 ⅓ innings with the Mountaineers this past college season.
That’s because Meyer was kicked off the West Virginia baseball team after criticizing the in-game coaching decisions. He was let go from the program in March and saw his draft stock plummet after being widely considered the ace of that pitching staff entering the season.
But this is a gamble that could really pay off for the Cubs. Meyer was sensational in his last full college season in 2025, posting a 3.94 ERA and a 28.9% strikeout rate across 48 innings pitched.
The 21-year-old really thrives on being that high-spin-rate pitcher on the mound. He has a mid-90s fastball that could touch 98 mph, to go with a slider that has one of the top spin rates in the class. Meyer’s slider usually sits between 3,233 and 3,243 RPM.
If not being dismissed from the West Virginia program this past season, Meyer could have found himself going much higher in the draft.
