Chicago Cubs 2022 MLB Draft: Picks, bonus pool, slot values

May 14, 2024

The 2022 MLB Draft is in the books and the Chicago Cubs made 22 picks. The Athletic has comprehensive live coverage of the 20-round, three-day event, including top-100 prospect rankings, mock drafts, prospect profiles, team-by-team analysis and much more. Find out how the Cubs fared in the draft and much more…

How did the Cubs do in the draft?

The Cubs took the hottest pitcher in the NCAA tournament, Oklahoma right-hander Cade Horton (7), with their first-round pick. Horton had a 7.94 ERA after the regular season ended, but found a new grip for his slider and went on a tear after that, throwing 31 innings across his next five starts, striking out 49, walking just six and allowing only nine runs, cutting his ERA for the season by over three runs in the process. It’s a plus pitch, and his fastball is up to 98 mph — a good starting point — but he doesn’t have a third pitch right now and his track record of success is exactly five weeks long. He missed 2021 after Tommy John surgery and was draft-eligible as a sophomore this year. The Cubs did get one of the best pitches in Horton’s slider in the draft class, but I can’t avoid thinking that there’s recency bias in Horton becoming the first college pitcher off the board.

Jackson Ferris (2) was one of the best left-handers in the high school class this year, and also a teammate of the fifth pick, Elijah Green. Ferris is a great athlete and sits 93-94 mph already, while his curveball and changeup have some promise. He’s very projectable, but the delivery has some flaws in it that might hold back his command. Shortstop Christopher Paciolla (3) is a projectable high school hitter with quick hands and a good swing for future power when he fills out. He’s a below-average runner who probably moves to third or second base.

Right-hander Nazier Mule (4) has been up to 100 mph but was shut down midway through the spring with arm fatigue. He’s mostly just an arm strength guy, but is very athletic and there isn’t as much effort as you’d expect for that kind of velocity. Texas Tech pitcher Brandon Birdsell (5) is a big-bodied right-hander who sits in the mid 90s with a slider that gets swings and misses, even though his delivery is pretty much all arm. Oregon State right-hander Will Frisch (6) had Tommy John surgery in March and missed the entire season. In 2021, he was 92-96 mph with a plus changeup in the upper 80s with some late tumble. He was a high school teammate of 2022 first-rounder Drew Gilbert. He’s definitely one to watch in 2023. Mason McGwire (8) is indeed Mark’s son, but he’s a pitcher and throws a splitter, unusual in any amateur pitcher but even more so in a high schooler. He’s 6-4 and still projectable, mostly 90-92 mph now; he doesn’t have an average breaking ball and his delivery is still rudimentary.

Keith Law’s National League report card

Cubs draft bonus pool

$10,092,700 — 10th-largest bonus pool in this draft
Source: MLB.com

Cubs draft in review

Why the Cubs felt confident in rolling the dice on No. 1 pick Cade Horton

How the Cubs bet on pitching and upside in this year’s draft

The Athletic selects the most intriguing draft pick from each team

Cubs draft picks with top-10 round slot values

(bonus amounts from MLB.com)

Round 1, Pick No. 7: Cade Horton, RHP, Oklahoma (signed: $4,450,000 / pick slot value: $5,710,000)
Scouting Report: Horton is an age-eligible sophomore (he’ll turn 21 in August) who missed 2021 after Tommy John surgery but has been a key part of the Sooners’ run to Omaha this year, working with two pitches that have helped him dominate right-handed batters. Horton sits 94-96 mph, touching 98 mph, and has a wipeout slider up to 89 mph that breaks downward so sharply that it doesn’t just fall off the table, it takes the tablecloth and all the dishes with it. He has no changeup to speak of and allowed an on-base percentage near .400 to lefties this year, and that’s the main thing keeping him from projecting as a starter. If you think there’s a third weapon in there somewhere, he would be a second-rounder; if not, he’s in the big bucket of good college pitchers who project as relievers and fit in rounds 3-5.

Round 2, Pick No. 47: Jackson Ferris, LHP, IMG Academy (signed: $3,005,000 / pick slot value: $1,660,400)
Scouting Report: Ferris benefited from playing on the same team as Elijah Green this spring, but he might get into the first round because he’s left-handed and sits 93-94, touching 97, with a potentially above-average curveball. Ferris is 6-4 and still projectable, listed at 190 pounds, and is very athletic. His arm is very quick, but it travels a long way from separation to release, with a plunge in the back that can make him late to pronate his arm relative to his landing. He also flies open sometimes, which leads to him missing a lot up and away, although he gets good extension out front. He’s succeeded this spring largely with his fastball, although the curveball has promise and he does have a mid-80s changeup with some tumble. He’s got above-average starter upside with a lot of volatility around the delivery.

Round 3, Pick No. 86: Christopher Paciolla, SS, Temecula Valley High School (signed: $900,000 / pick slot value: $735,200)

Round 4, Pick No. 113: Nazier Mule, P, Passaic County Tech HS (Wayne, NJ) (signed: $1,000,000 / pick slot value: $538,400)
Scouting Report: Mule has been up to 100 mph but missed the latter half of the spring with arm fatigue, only returning for the MLB Draft Combine in June. He’s a tremendous athlete who plays shortstop and can hit a little, although he’s only a prospect on the mound. The velocity is easy but his delivery has some head violence and he varies his arm slot to get to any other pitch type. The Miami commit won’t turn 18 until October.

Round 5, Pick No. 143: Brandon Birdsell, RHP, Texas Tech (signed: $385,000 / pick slot value: $402,400)
Scouting Report: Birdsell has a Jeff Juden-like build and a delivery that is all arm, making no use of his lower half, yet somehow he sits in the mid 90s with depth on a mid-80s slider that misses bats and gets chases. He has no real changeup to speak of and his fastball doesn’t get as many whiffs as you’d expect from the velocity. To his credit, he doesn’t walk many guys for someone with a high-effort arm action, just 7.7 percent over the last two seasons. The delivery alone will make it very hard for him to hold up as a starter, and he’s already had Tommy John surgery in high school and missed more than half of the 2021 spring season with a rotator cuff injury.

Round 6, Pick No. 173: Will Frisch, RHP, Oregon State (signed: $228,000 / pick slot value: $303,900)

Round 7, Pick No. 203: Nick Hull, RHP, Grand Canyon University (signed: $25,000 / pick slot value: $237,300)

Round 8, Pick No. 233: Mason McGwire, RHP, Capistrano Valley High School (Calif.) (signed: $200,000 / pick slot value: $189,100)

Round 9, Pick No. 263: Connor Noland, RHP, Arkansas (signed: $200,000 / pick slot value: $164,500)

Round 10, Pick No. 293: Brody McCullough, RHP, Wingate (NC) (signed: $125,000 / pick slot value: $154,200)

Rd. 11, Pick No. 323: Branden Noriega, LHP, Miami Dade College (signed)

Rd. 12, Pick No. 353: Mathew Peters, RHP, Indiana Institute of Technology (signed)

Rd. 13, Pick No. 383: Luis Rujano, RHP, Sunshine State Elite Academy (Kissimmee, Fla.) (signed: $210,000 / $85,000 counts towards the bonus pool)

Rd. 14, Pick No. 413: Shane Marshall, RHP, Georgia (signed)

Rd. 15, Pick No. 443: Haydn McGeary, C, Colorado Mesa Uni. (signed: $125,000)

Rd. 16, Pick No. 473: JP Wheat, RHP, Next Level Academy (Wetumpka, Ala.) (signed)

Rd. 17, Pick No. 503: Andy Garriola, OF, Old Dominion (signed)

Rd. 18, Pick No. 533: Garrett Brown, RHP, Georgia (signed)

Rd. 19, Pick No. 563: Brock Blatter, RHP, Billings (Mt.) Central HS
Scouting Report: Blatter hails from Montana, but his school doesn’t have a baseball team, so he’s had to play for a pair of travel teams — when the 6-5 right-hander isn’t leading his school basketball team to a state championship. He comes from a high 3/4 slot with some ride on a low-90s fastball, with a fringy slider and some feel for a changeup, showing a clean delivery that should lead to future command. He’s committed to Alabama and may very well end up there, where he’d obviously be seen by far more scouts, although he did go pitch in the MLB Draft League for a few weeks leading up to this year’s draft.

Rd. 20, Pick No. 593: Ke’Shun Collier, OF, Meridian Community College (signed: $100,000)

2021 first-round pick Jordan Wicks at the draft. (Mary DeCicco / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Dates, location and times

The 2022 MLB Draft is a three-day event spanning Sunday through Tuesday of MLB All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. The Sunday evening kick-off includes the first two rounds and will be held live with representatives from each team on hand, as well as several potential draft picks and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

When: July 17, at 7pm EST; July 18, at 2pm EST; July 19, at 2pm EST
Where: Los Angeles
TV: MLB Network (first 80 picks) and ESPN (first round)

Top prospect rankings and mock draft

Druw Jones leads Keith Law’s latest top-100 prospect ranking. And here are prospects to watch outside of the top-100 ranking.

Will the Orioles go with best player available for the top pick? How will the Mets approach their two top-15 picks? The Athletic’s MLB staff weighs in with a first-round mock draft.

Get all of our latest draft coverage here.

Cubs draft preview

How might Chicago approach this year’s draft? VP of scouting Dan Kantrovitz discusses the team’s approach ahead of the draft.

The Cubs plan to be patient when developing the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 draft.

MLB Draft explainer

How does the draft bonus pool work? And why can’t all picks be traded?

(Photo: Matt Ziegler / MLB Photo via Getty Images)

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