Before the 2025 MLB Draft, Dominick Reid was ranked the No. 209 prospect out of the 250 listed on MLB Pipeline. That would have seen him selected in the seventh round.

But the Cubs’ amateur department was far higher on the 6-foot-3 right-hander, which is why they took him in the third round at No. 90 overall on Day 2 of the draft.

“I would say that Dom Reid is probably a guy that could surprise some people,” Cubs vice president of scouting Dan Kantrovitz told the “Road to Wrigley Live” panel in an exclusive interview Thursday. “You watch his college outings and the changeup he’s got … There were times where you felt like he could just throw it four, five times in a row to some pretty good-quality college hitters.”

Watch the full, exclusive interview with Dan Kantrovitz only on the Marquee Sports Network app.

Reid spent his first two college seasons at Oklahoma State University before transferring to Abilene Christian University for his junior season.

At Abilene, he broke out: The 21-year-old pitched to a 3.26 ERA as the team’s Friday starter, racking up 112 strikeouts in 88.1 innings pitched on his way to earning All-Western Athletic Conference first team honors. His strikeout tally landed him in the top 21 among NCAA Division I pitchers. He walked just 22 batters across 12 starts.

Chicago Cubs select RHP Dominick Reid from Abilene Christian University. There’s velocity and an interesting slider, but it’s the changeup that stands out. Minimizes walks and gets Ks. The changeup is going to eat at the lower levels.
🎥 @Data_prospects
pic.twitter.com/ZU5TQ7JBAk

— Greg Zumach (@IvyFutures) July 14, 2025

Reid was the first pitcher the Cubs selected in the draft, for good reason: He wowed Kantrovitz, even when he wasn’t throwing.

“Great kid. He actually came to our pre-draft workout, wasn’t able to pitch and just sat there the entire day, which was a pretty long day,” Kantrovitz said. “He drove all the way from his house to where ours was in Texas. We got the chance at the end of our workout to sit down and talk with him for 30 minutes in the dugout. You could just feel the energy and the passion that he had.”

Jim Callis says SIX of the Cubs draft picks from this year will be on his updated Top 30 next week:

Ethan Conrad
Kane Kepley
Kaleb Wing
Dominick Reid
Josiah Hartshorn
Kade Snell

— Greg Huss (@OutOfTheVines) August 7, 2025

Along with his dominant changeup, Reid has a breaking ball as well as a fastball that sits between 91 and 94 mph and can top out at 96 mph. Through the Cubs’ high-performance strength program, Kantrovitz believes they can get even more velocity out of Reid come next season.

“We’re going to take it pretty slow with him, as we will all of our pitchers who had the workload that he had in college,” Kantrovitz said. “But he’s gonna come out next spring, open some eyes and maybe have a few more ticks on his heater. There’s a lot to be excited about there.”