Cubs Prospect Forcing His Way Onto the Radar in Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League provides an extended runway for top prospects who need more development against elite competition. It’s the perfect environment for an organization to get its most promising young players extra at-bats and innings in a highly competitive setting.

Unlike the minor leagues, AFL teams aren’t tied to single Major League affiliates. Each of the six rosters is made up of players from five different organizations.

The Chicago Cubs have their prospects assigned to the Mesa Solar Sox, a roster shared with the Athletics, Rays, Yankees, and Marlins. In total, eight Cubs players are suiting up for Mesa this fall — including former first-round pick Ed Howard, who appeared in only 21 games during the 2025 season and needs live reps after another injury-shortened year.

Howard fits the typical profile of an AFL candidate: talented players who missed significant time and need to make up developmental ground.

The league isn’t just for role players or mid-tier prospects, either. Many future Major League stars have sharpened their game in the desert. Owen Caissie, for instance, played in the Arizona Fall League back in 2022 — a year before breaking out as one of the Cubs’ top young hitters and earning his call-up. That’s the kind of developmental path the AFL can help accelerate.

Another Cub who’s making the most of that same opportunity is 24-year-old catcher Owen Ayers. Of all the Cubs prospects in Arizona, Ayers has been the most impressive early on.

For a player drafted in the 19th round who has never been viewed as a high-end prospect, Ayers is forcing people to notice him.

Ayers was selected by the Cubs in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Marshall University after transferring there from State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (JUCO).

His first taste of pro ball was rough — just 18 games with Low-A Myrtle Beach in 2024 after signing — but he bounced back in 2025 once he settled in.

“I had a little bit of success, a little bit of failure, saw where I was and what I needed to improve on,” Ayers told MLB.com. “Knowing there was going to be a lot of work and it’s not something that’s going to be given to me, so it just helped me understand what I needed to do to get to where I want to be.”

That mindset paid off. Before a broken hand ended his season in late July, Ayers was starting to find consistency both at the plate and behind it.

He finished 2025 hitting .238 with 14 doubles, five triples, six home runs, and 47 RBIs — good for a .761 OPS. Not gaudy numbers on the surface, but for a late bloomer in Low-A ball, it marked a real step forward.

Now, Ayers is taking that momentum and running with it. Through his first seven games in the Arizona Fall League, he’s batting .360 with two home runs, three doubles, and a 1.204 OPS — easily one of the top offensive performers in the league so far.

The Cubs have catching depth in Moises Ballesteros, who ranks in the organization’s top-30 prospects, but there are questions about Ballesteros’ long-term defensive fit behind the plate. That uncertainty could open the door for a hard-working catcher like Ayers to climb the ladder quickly.

Owen Ayers has never been the loudest name in the system or on anybody's radar. He’s been overlooked, under-scouted, and rarely spotlighted. But he just keeps improving — and if his Arizona Fall League performance is any indication, the Cubs might have found a hidden gem in the 19th round of the draft.