First baseman Jonathon Long embodied consistency in his first season at Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs drafted Long in the ninth round out of Long Beach State in 2023. He reached Double-A last year and upped the ante as a 23-year-old this season by leading the International League in hits, batting .308/.407/.482 and setting career highs with 20 home runs and 91 RBIs.

Cubs farm director Jason Kanzler pointed to three traits Long possesses that enhance his floor: his high walk rate, low strikeout rate and an ability to hit the ball hard, often in the air.

“Those three things give him a really good shot to be a very productive player,” Kanzler said. “And that’s not even including the things that aren’t really talked about with him, which is that he is a very good first baseman defensively.”

While his consistency became a staple of his performance this year, Long’s June performance was his only extended blip in production. His .606 OPS that month came with just two extra-base hits but with 11 walks and 14 strikeouts in 25 games.

Reflecting on his June, Long said he emerged stronger from the struggles and learned how to fail in order to succeed.

“Obviously, you’re not going to dominate the whole season,” Long said. “You’re going to go through peaks and valleys, and that was the first real time that things were just not going my way.

“You still have to show up to the ballpark every day, and take every day as a new day, a new opportunity, and keep pushing through even when you can’t see that light at the end of the tunnel.”

Long’s struggles helped him focus his mindset: “This is my time to struggle. It’s not going to happen forever.”

The Cubs have shown they will give regular at-bats to young position players, including Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw. Others, such as Kevin Alcantara, Moises Ballesteros and Owen Caissie have made their MLB debuts the past two seasons.

“At the end of the day, I need to make sure I do my job and take care of what I need to in order to prepare for whatever role they want,” Long said, “whether that’s next year, in a couple of years.”