Chicago Cubs Mock Draft: Last Minute Picks and Predictions

Since the new front-office regime of Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer took over, the Cubs have drafted very well, especially in the early rounds. Players like Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber have been added just in the past two years alone and they will look to further improve the organization with June's draft.

Whether they decide to go pitcher heavy or hitter heavy, the team is likely to target the players who fit into their short- and long-term plans. Here is a mock draft of the first four rounds and the players the Cubs may consider taking in each early round.

A word of caution: Unlike other professional sports leagues, outside the first couple of rounds, the MLB draft is very hard to predict. This is because there is a wider variation in opinions among organizations over good-not-great players. 

1st Round (9th Overall): C Tyler Stephenson, Kennesaw Mountain (Ga.) HS

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The Scouting Report 

Tyler Stephenson is a power hitter with a long stride, and a long, uppercut swing. He is a very talented high school hitter and one who could be groomed into a very good power hitter over the next several years.

His long extension on his swing does project him as a big strikeout guy who will have to work out his mechanics to hit for average.

Behind the plate, not much is known about Stephenson's ability to call a game for a pitcher, but according to Perfect Game, he does have a 1.90 pop time, which is right in line with major league catcher pop times. He will have to develop elements of his game behind the plate, but the raw talent is there.

Why He Makes Sense for the Cubs

The only position on the field the Cubs lack depth in as an organization is at catcher. Of course, the team could decide to go pitching here, but the front office has shown in past drafts that it will not draft a pitcher unless it's absolutely in love with him.

The Cubs are much more inclined to sign established free-agent pitching, which they showed this winter when they signed both Jon Lester and Jason Hammel to multi-year deals.

The Cubs have Miguel Montero at the major league level right now, and he has two years left on his contract after this season. Once his contract expires, he will be 34 years old. Not many 34-year-old catchers get signed to return as starters behind the plate.

Chicago has Kyle Schwarber, the fourth overall pick last season, as a potential catcher, but the fact he's clubbing the heck out of minor league pitching this season actually hurts his chances of sticking behind the dish long-term.

Since it appears, based on his performance, that he will be with the Cubs sooner rather than later, it is more likely Schwarber will play in left field so he can get called up earlier. 

The team also has Victor Caratini in its farm system, but he is not considered an elite-level prospect. While he will require a lot of grooming in the minor leagues, Stephenson could fall into that elite level at the catcher position eventually.

2nd Round (51st Overall): RHP Riley Ferrell, TCU

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The Scouting Report

Riley Ferrell has one of the most eye-popping arms in college baseball with a pretty devastating fastball-offspeed combination. That helped him to a strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate of nearly 14 in 2014 as he converted 15 save opportunities and notched a nearly perfect 0.79 ERA in 45.1 innings.

How did Ferrell follow up his 2014 campaign? By improving his strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate to just over 14, while converting 14 saves with a 1.29 ERA. With his electrifying stuff, and the fact that closers don't need as much grooming in the minor leagues, it looks like Ferrell is not far from being major league ready.

Why He Makes Sense for the Cubs

You can never have too many power arms in the bullpen, and the Cubs have desperately been trying to add one for the last few years. While the back end of their bullpen is pitching well, they could certainly use a flamethrower to group with other guys like Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon.

Riley is a rare player who the Cubs could draft and potentially use as if he were a midseason addition. If he convinced the team enough of his capabilities in a couple of months of minor league baseball, he could be added to the big league bullpen by September.

A move like this is rare, but Ferrell's former teammate Brandon Finnegan did exactly that last season after being drafted by the Royals and became the first player in baseball history to play in the College World Series and professional World Series in the same year.

Many draft projections (such as David Rawnsley's at Sports Illustrated) have Ferrell as a first-round pick and rightfully so; he looks relatively ready for major league baseball. However, there may not be a team willing to spend a first-round pick on a relief pitcher. With how much they like power arms, though, the Cubs are a good bet to take a chance on him if he's there.

3rd Round: Outfielder Kep Brown, Wando (S.C.) HS

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The Scouting Report

If not for a torn Achilles last month, Kep Brown would be a potential first-round pick, but the power hitter did suffer the major injury during a game in early April. He is one of the top power-hitting prospects in baseball, but obviously teams are now worried about his Achilles injury, something that is prone to re-injury.

Scouts agree that Brown will hit for a lot of power, but only if he makes enough contact for it to matter. In other words, he needs to focus more on making more contact in order to be ready to make an impact at the major league level.

Why He Makes Sense for the Cubs 

The Cubs can afford to take a gamble on Brown because they already have a lot of high-upside hitters at the big league level. If Brown recovers well from his Achilles injury and hits well, that's just a bonus.

Additionally, the front office has shown a penchant for drafting high-upside power hitters, as it did with Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber over the past two seasons, so Brown could be appealing if the Cubs stick with that vision.

4th Round: RHP Grayson Long, Texas A&M

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The Scouting Report

Grayson Long is a big (6'6", 205 pounds) pitcher with three decent pitches. His fastball-slider-changeup combination has the potential to be good at the major league level, but he will have to develop one into a put-away pitch.

In addition to developing a put-away pitch, the former 2012 39th-round pick will have to turn one of the other two pitches into a secondary pitch. He has a long way to go, but he has more tools with which the Cubs can work than most mid-level pitching prospects in this draft.

Why He Makes Sense for the Cubs

Long has already been drafted before and opted to go to college in order to refine his repertoire. It has paid off for him, as his draft projection is now much higher than the 39th round he was taken in a few years ago.

A potential diamond in the rough, Long could be a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher in the major leagues in several years. With a fourth-round pick, the Cubs could be more than willing to take a flyer on this tall, projectable pitcher and see what happens.