Two Cubs Prospects Shine in Arizona Fall League

For most baseball fans, November is the time for early offseason rumors. It's the month for free agency talk, mock trades, and speculation about what the future of every team could look like.

Behind the scenes, though, there's baseball being played. And for the Chicago Cubs, what's taken place in the Arizona Fall League could be a great sign for the organization's future and the health of the farm system overall.

The Arizona Fall League is an opportunity for top prospects from every organization to gain additional experience against elite competition with an extended season. It's extra innings for pitchers, extra at-bats for position players, and an opportunity for prospects to develop against the very best minor league baseball has to offer. Every Cubs prospect plays for the Mesa Solar Sox alongside prospects from the Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and Toronto Blue Jays.

The current Solar Sox roster includes nine Cubs prospects, and two have been shining above the rest, recently being named to the Fall Stars Game, which features the top performers in the AFL.

Right-handed pitcher Dominick Reid was a third-round selection by the Cubs in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Abilene Christian University. He made his professional debut during the 2026 season, making 13 total starts across Low-A Myrtle Beach and High-A South Bend, and finished the year with a 3.86 ERA and 54 strikeouts over 53.2 innings.

Prior to turning pro, Reid led all NCAA Division I pitchers with 66 strikeouts coming via his changeup. That remains his best pitch, complementing a mid-90s fastball very well.

The scouting consensus on Reid is that his breaking stuff needs to improve if he wants to move through the minor leagues and eventually reach MLB as a starting pitcher. But it's been a very encouraging fall over four starts in Mesa. He's thrown 13 innings, allowing five earned runs, good for a 3.46 ERA with 17 strikeouts.

That earned him a selection as an Arizona Fall League All-Star. Reid is currently the No. 28 ranked prospect in the Cubs farm system.

He's joined on the Fall Stars roster by outfielder Kade Snell, a fellow draft pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. Snell was selected in the fifth round by the Cubs out of the University of Alabama.

Snell burst onto the scene during his final year with the Crimson Tide when he hit .363 with a 1.039 OPS over 58 games. He struggled mightily during a brief professional stint in 2025 but spent the entire 2026 season at High-A South Bend and impressed with 15 doubles, nine home runs, 19 stolen bases, and a .776 OPS. That's now carried over into Arizona, where he's played in 18 games and has a .808 OPS with 11 stolen bases for the Solar Sox.

He's a left-handed hitting outfielder with very good speed, a low strikeout rate, and some pretty good bat-to-ball skills. His unique blend of power and athleticism makes him a naturally intriguing prospect, especially now that we've seen the production tick up in 2026 against improved competition.

Snell is 24 years old, so he should spend the 2027 season at Double-A Knoxville. But he's officially become a name to watch with the national recognition he's getting in the Arizona Fall League.

The Cubs may not have the same nationally recognized farm system as some other organizations in MLB. Outfielder Josiah Hartshorn and catcher Owen Ayers are the only two Cubs prospects in the Top 100.

It was just last year that Ayers was dominating in the Arizona Fall League. And now, one year later, two under-the-radar Cubs prospects are also making names for themselves, pointing to a much deeper and more talented farm system than the Cubs might get credit for.