The Chicago Cubs may already have another homegrown bat worth watching, and this one doesn’t need the same thunderous power profile to get noticed.
Josiah Hartshorn has grabbed most of the spotlight after a historic climb through the system and a rise to the top of the organization’s prospect list just a year after being drafted in the sixth round. But if you widen the lens to the rest of that 2025 draft class, Kane Kepley has built a case of his own.
Kepley went a few rounds before Hartshorn, landing just outside the top 50 overall before the Cubs took him out of UNC. Since then, he has kept producing. He posted a .914 OPS in his short professional debut last year, then followed that with a 130 wRC+ in 2026.
He doesn’t bring the same kind of power or run-producing punch that has pushed Hartshorn up the ladder, but Kepley has one of the highest floors in the system and looks like the sort of player who can keep improving as he gets closer to the majors.
What makes Kepley interesting is that his game doesn’t look like everyone else’s. A useful comparison, oddly enough, is Pete Crow-Armstrong - not the version of PCA tearing through 2026, but the earlier version that was still building his name as a prospect.
Crow-Armstrong made his living with speed and elite defense, and his first taste of Double-A produced a 135 wRC+. Kepley is right in that neighborhood, sitting at 127.
The way they get there is different, though. Crow-Armstrong has always carried more power upside and could swing between big homer stretches and strikeout-heavy valleys.
Kepley is steadier. This season, he has reached base at a 43% clip and walked far more often than he has struck out.
Add in the running game - he has 66 steals in 121 games this year - and he becomes the kind of player who can constantly put pressure on a defense.
That doesn’t make him a classic Silver Slugger candidate in the usual sense. Speed matters, defense doesn’t, and those are the tools that define Kepley more than raw pop. But they do give him a real path to playing time, and that matters when awards and counting stats are involved.
He’s only hit 10 homers this season, but if he keeps getting on base and taking extra bases at this rate, he won’t need a huge power surge to make noise. And if he eventually shares a lineup with Crow-Armstrong, that could cut into his spotlight with voters while also underscoring just how useful his game really is.
The numbers tell the story: Crow-Armstrong leads MLB with 110 runs scored in 147 games, while Kepley has piled up 125 runs in 121 minor-league games. Different paths, same basic effect.
Get on, keep moving, score in bunches. That’s how Kepley can separate himself.
In Other News...
Cubs Suddenly Have A Frightening Bregman Problem For The Stretch Run
The Cubs got a jolt they did not need in the middle of a late-season push when Alex Bregman was struck in the face by a foul ball while standing in the on-deck circle against Cincinnati and had to leave for the clubhouse. Matt Shaw stepped in to replace him, but the bigger concern for Chicago is what Bregman has meant since the second half of the season began, when he emerged as one of the clubs key offensive pieces.
For a team trying to keep its footing in the stretch run, any scare involving a lineup centerpiece quickly becomes more than a single-game interruption. The Cubs were already leaning on Bregman for steady production, and now they have to wait and see how much time, if any, they may lose at a point in the season when every at-bat and every win carries extra weight. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Could Have A Short-Term Answer If Ian Happ Walks
The Cubs are headed into an offseason that could leave one corner of their outfield in flux, with Ian Happ expected to test free agency and Seiya Suzuki also set to explore the market. Suzuki still profiles as a possible long-term fit if Chicago decides to keep the conversation going, but the broader picture points to a club that may need to bridge a gap while its next wave keeps developing. Josiah Hartshorn and Kane Kepley are part of that longer-term pipeline, which makes the next move less about a permanent fix and more about finding the right handoff.
That is why a short-term outfield addition could make sense, even if it comes with some risk attached. Teoscar Hernndez has come up as a potential trade target from the Dodgers, but the appeal is tempered by concern over his recent performance and the cost of taking on his contract. For a Cubs team trying to stay competitive without blocking the future, the challenge may be finding an answer sturdy enough to matter now and flexible enough not to get in the way later. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Are Back In A Brutal Trade Debate Fans Hate
Pete Crow-Armstrongs rise with the Cubs has become one of the clearest examples of how a trade can haunt a front office for years. The review also points to the Mets and Dodgers as part of the same uncomfortable conversation, with each club having moved on from a player who has since developed into an MVP-caliber performer or one of the most important bats on his current team.
For Chicago, the Crow-Armstrong part of the story is the one that matters most because he is now central to the Cubs present and future. The broader point is less flattering for the teams that let these players go, especially when the list includes a Guardians deal that sent Junior Caminero elsewhere and a pattern that has turned into one of the more painful trade debates in the sport. [Read more 🡒]