Like their minor league affiliates, the Chicago Cubs’ 2025 season didn’t end as hoped, with the team bowing out of the postseason after their valiant comeback effort in the NLDS fell short. Nevertheless, their players deserve to be recognized, and it’s about time that North Side Baseball awards the best minor league starter from the Cubs’ organization this year.
Cade Horton graduated to the majors this season and turned into one of the most dependable starters in baseball during the second half. Had he spent more time in the minor leagues, he could have given our winner a real run for his money. Instead, the only one answer for this award is the guy most people are hoping will turn into the next Horton: Jaxon Wiggins.
Wiggins was drafted in the second round of the 2023 draft from the University of Arkansas and currently sits as the Cubs’ No. 4 prospect and the number 73 prospect in all of baseball, per MLB.com. The 23-year-old’s pitch arsenal includes a running fastball that sits in the high-90s, a lethal slider that can be tough to control at times, and a changeup that has improved steadily throughout his minor league career. He was at the center of many trade rumors around the deadline when the Cubs were looking for controllable starting pitching, but it’s tough to blame the front office for holding onto him given the season he had.
Wiggins began the 2025 season pitching for High-A South Bend. He only needed six appearances (five starts) to impress enough to earn a promotion to Double-A. In his 26 1/3 innings in High-A, he posted a 1.71 ERA with 31 strikeouts. He then made 10 starts with the Smokies he had an equally-impressive 1.93 ERA with 52 strikeouts over 42 innings. His FIP at South Bend was 3.14, suggesting his 1.71 ERA was helped out by a bit of good luck; on the contrary, his 2.23 FIP in Knoxville really highlights his dominance and is a big reason why he is one of the best pitching prospects we’ve seen since Cade Horton, and before that, Justin Steele, and before THAT, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. Late in the 2025 season, Wiggins was promoted to Triple-A and produced middling results, but overall, he pitched to a 2.19 ERA with 97 strikeouts across 78 innings of minor league ball. He did walk 36 batters, but given that he struck nearly one-third of the batters he faced, the walks can be overlooked. He had the same number of walks in 2024 in almost 20 fewer innings, so improvements are being made in the control department.
Wiggins should continue to climb the prospect rankings before his expected call-up sometime in 2026. The Cubs were limiting his innings this season, a continuation of a trend with all of their top pitching prospects. If Horton’s 2025 campaign is the blueprint for when we can anticipate the MLB debut of Wiggins, the Cubs should have a rotation of Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, and Wiggins for most of 2026. That group could compete with the 2016 team as one of the most lethal rotations in the history of the club.
Interested in learning more about the Chicago Cubs’ top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!