Cubs scouting director Dan Kantrovitz said that the Cubs had to do something to improve their pitching. He followed through with that statement by taking Mississippi righty Cade Townsend with their first pick in the MLB Draft.
The 6’1”, 185 Townsend is a 21-year-old draft-eligible sophomore who spent two years at Ole Miss. He has a five-pitch arsenal, all five of which rate out as at least average. Townsend has a 95-96 mph fastball that has touched as high as 98, although it’s a bit too straight and can be hittable if he doesn’t locate it right. But he also has a low-90s cutter with good movement, an upper-80s power slider that breaks down and away from right-handed hitters, a loopy, knee-bending low-80s curve and a diving splitter around 86-87. The fastball, splitter and cutter could all be considered plus and the slider and curve are at least average. His slider and cutter in particular have that It’s a starter’s arseneal.
Townsend split time between the bullpen and the rotation as a freshman. This last year, he moved full-time to the rotation and dominated early on. At that point, Townsend looked like a top ten pick in the draft. However, he missed a start in March with shoulder soreness and while he was back after just missing one week, his stuff just wasn’t as sharp the rest of the season and the results matched. In particular, he got knocked around by Texas A&M and Alabama in May, which makes his overall line look a little more pedestrian.
For the 2026 campaign, Townsend made 14 starts and went 5-3 with a 3.94 ERA. He struck out 88 and walked 22 in 64 innings. His overall command and control were solid in his sophomore season after struggling with walks in his freshman year.
There are some concerns that Townsend has some reliever risk, despite his impressive five-pitch arsenal. Some of that is because at 6’1”, he’s not the kind of big, physical presence that some want to see in a right-handed starter. Some of the concern is because of his less-than-smooth delivery, control questions and injury concerns. Those are the factors that had Townsend dropping down public draft boards late in the process.
MLB Pipeline ranked Townsend as the 35th-best draft prospect coming into the draft. Baseball America had him at 29. Keith Law at The Athletic ranked him at 37, but he added that he was a top-ten prospect before his late-season fall-off. Law did say he was also concerned about how many pitches Townsend was throwing at the end of the year.
But if Townsend proves healthy, he’s the kind of accomplished college pitcher who could move through the system quickly and join the Cubs as soon as 2028.
It the Cubs were going to go for pitching in the first round, they were going to have to accept some flaws, especially since they were picking at 23. There were some pitchers available who had plus velocity but major injury or control concerns. Or there were safer pitchers who had fewer concerns and were more likely to be major league contributors, but with a low upside.
In Townsend, the Cubs’ tried to balance risk and reward. Townsend’s stuff is more of a mid-rotation profile, although if he returns to what he was earlier this college season, he’s got the potential to be even better than that. On the other hand, while he, like every other pitcher, does have some injury concerns, his shoulder issue is more of a yellow flag than a red one. The Cubs did get a chance to look at Townsend’s medicals at the MLB Draft Combine, so they no doubt feel good about his health.
The Cubs were unlikely to hit a home run with the 23rd pick in the draft. They could have swung for one, but they didn’t. Instead, it looks like they tried to stay within themselves and they swung for a solid double.
According to his bio at Mississippi, Townsend is a black belt in taekwondo. I don’t know what that has to do with pitching, but it can’t hurt.
Here’s some Cade Townsend highlights.
Here’s a longer collection of highlights from throughout his career.
So let’s all welcome Cade Townsend to the Cubs family!
