Josiah Hartshorn, a 19-year-old switch-hitting outfielder, is promoted from Low-A Myrtle Beach to High-A South Bend. The Cubs paid overslot to sign him out of high school in the 6th round, and he arrived at Spring Training unusually polished. In his full-season debut, he hit .273/.424/.460 with a 149 wRC+, walking 19.2% of the time while striking out 15.3%. His early production has moved him into top-five prospect status in the Cubs system and has drawn consideration for top-100 overall rankings. The promotion is described as aggressive, with expectations of possible early adjustment before stabilizing. Mason McGwire is also promoted to South Bend (A+).
"Josiah Hartshorn, 19, is a switch-hitting outfielder whom the Cubs paid overslot to sign out of high school in the 6th round last year. He showed up to Spring Training uncommonly polished for a high schooler making his debut, and got the full-season assignment to Myrtle Beach. That was already impressive. Then he impressed even more, hitting .273/.424/.460/149 wRC+, while walking more (19.2%) than he struck out (15.3%)."
"You'll want to see more in-game power given his size and profile, but he turned 19 in February, and he's making his professional debut. There's plenty of time for the power to come along, and what he's already shown is enough to not only rocket him up to top-five prospect standing in the Cubs' system (number three at Baseball America), but he's also already under consideration for a top-100 overall spot by some publications."
"And now, Hartshorn gets the promotion to High-A South Bend in his debut season out of high school before June. That's very aggressive, and is the kind of special trajectory we don't see too often. The Cubs clearly feel he can handle the jump in pitching. I wouldn't be surprised to see some period of struggle before he hopefully stabilizes and continues raking later this year."
"The Chicago Cubs are promoting Josiah Hartshorn to the South Bend Cubs (A+), per @_chaseford. pic.twitter.com/M8aBzIOHOf- Milb Central (@milb_central) May 26, 2026 The Chicago Cubs are promoting Mason McGwire to the South Bend Cubs (A+), per @_chaseford. pic.twitter.com/tdwGyo6ND5- Milb Central (@milb_central) May 26, 2026"
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