Top Cubs Prospect Josiah Hartshorn Clarifies Sunday’s Early Exit
Josiah Hartshorn (Hart-shorn) went from sixth-round pick to the Cubs’ top-ranked prospect (No. 60 overall) in about a year, and he’s currently putting up a 130 wRC+ with 12 homers in 248 plate appearances at High-A South Bend. A switch-hitter who has played at least 149 innings each at first base (281), right (293.1), and center (149) between Myrtle Beach and South Bend, his versatility in the field and at the plate is a tremendous asset. He’s also got at least 50-grade power.
That’s why the Cubs saw fit to give him the largest bonus ever for a sixth-rounder, knowing they needed to go big to buy him out of his commitment to Texas A&M. Their $2 million investment looks like a good one so far, as Hartshorn quickly became the organization’s only untouchable prospect heading into the trade deadline. Not that such a thing really exists, as anyone could be moved for the right deal, but he was the closest.
And it looked for a bit as though that deal might have come along. Hartshorn was not in South Bend’s lineup on Saturday, causing some to wonder whether he was being discussed in trade talks. That was put to bed for a while when he was back in the lineup on Sunday, but then he was removed for Kane Kepley in the bottom of the 7th with the Cubs down 1-0.
Were there hugs in the dugout? Was Hartshorn under the weather? Had he tweaked something? Maybe the team was being extra cautious due to the rain that caused the game to be called after the 7th inning.
As it turns out, it was none of those things. Hartshorn had grounded out to first base leading off the 6th, giving him an 0-for-3 afternoon, and he failed to show enough hustle down the line.
“I didn’t run hard,” Hartshorn explained to the South Bend Tribune on Monday. “We had an expectation that was set beforehand, and I didn’t follow it, and [SB Cubs manager Daniel Wasinger] made the right decision to take me out of the game. It scared some people, but at the end of the day, it was my bad and it was performance-based.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a guy who gives anything less than their best, and I gave it less than my best on that play, and I can’t do that. For this group of guys and the commitment we’ve all made together, that’s unacceptable.”
Good on him for being accountable, owning the mistake, and understanding that he has to be better. And good on Jed Hoyer for holding onto a young player who could very well be a difference-maker down the road. The same goes for catcher Owen Ayers, whose rise up the rankings has been even more remarkable. From a 19th-round pick out of Marshall in 2024 to the organization’s No. 2 prospect, Ayers’ emergence is part of why the team was willing to part with Moisés Ballesteros in the Ryan Zeferjahn trade.
Not only is Ayers a legit catcher with a cannon for an arm, but he’s currently raking against Triple-A pitching after destroying High-A and Double-A already. The Cubs have long valued positional versatility, and Ballesteros being a DH who could catch in a pinch provided none of that. This isn’t to say that they gave up on him, so don’t get me wrong. It’s just that having other young players with both offensive upside and the ability to hold down at least one position gave the front office confidence to overpay for areas of greater need.
