Cubs Prospect Focus: Ed Howard |
When the Cubs hired Theo Epstein as the team's new President of Baseball operations in 2011, he had one goal in mind. To win a World Series. He achieved that goal in 2016, but it came with struggles along the way. It took a lot of losing to acquire great draft picks, some bold trades to add more talent to the system, and the right mindset to choose when to go all in for free agency.
Once the Cubs started to become contenders, sustaining that level of success was challenging, and the back end of his tenure was affected by it. Instead of picking in the top five, the Cubs were at the bottom of the first round, while a lot of trades he made gutted the farm system and put the Cubs in a tough spot. After missing the playoffs in 2019 for the first time in four seasons, Epstein entered the 2020 season with a ton of pressure and knew it could be the end of the road for him. That was the case as Epstein resigned following the 2020 season and handed things over to Jed Hoyer. However, Epstein did make one last effort to give the Cubs a franchise player and used his final draft pick as the man in charge on SS Ed Howard in 2020. The Chicago kid was once a top 10 prospect in the system, as he was as high as No. 7 entering 2021. Then came a series of injuries and struggles the past two years, and Howard has fallen all the way down to No. 20 because of it. Even at No. 20, Howard has a ton of talent and could still become one of the faces of the Cubs franchise when he makes his MLB debut. Howard spent the 2020 summer working out in South Bend with the team as he was sent to the Alternate site during the COVID shutdown season. He then made his way to Mesa for the Winter Instructional league as he was trying to prepare himself for 2021. Once that season was approved to start, Howard made his way to Myrtle Beach to begin his professional career and struggled mightily in the process.
He hit just a .225 that season across 80 games and had four homers and 31 RBIs. Howard also had 18BB and 98K, but at just 19 years old, the Cubs knew he would take his bumps along the way. Looking for better results in 2022, the Cubs moved Howard up to High-A, where he spent the season with South Bend.
Granted, the results were not great; Howard only saw action in 23 games as a freak hip injury at first base forced him to miss the remainder of the season. In those 23 games, Howard was hitting .244 with one homer and 11 RBIs. He also added 9BB and 19K, so you could see some improvements in his game. Given the struggles in 2021 and his injury last year, he is still an unknown when it comes to how high his ceiling will be, and 2023 is a massive season for him.
Howard gained national stardom eight years ago when he was the leader of the Jackie Robinson West Little League team in the Little League World series. Six years later, the Cubs drafted the hometown kid and signed him to an impressive 3.7 Million dollar deal. Being a first-round talent comes with a ton of pressure, and so far, Howard has yet to live up to those expectations. However, at 21 years old, he still has plenty of time to become the player the Cubs thought he would be.
While his bat continues to be a work in progress, his defense stands out as he could be one of the best defenders in the system. Not only does he have the quick reaction times that should allow him to stick at SS, but he has a great arm and can make some of the more difficult plays look routine. Howard also showed plenty of versatility last season as he moved to 2B in favor of Kevin Made, who emerged as the best defensive SS in the Cubs system last year.
The next stage in his development will come on the offensive side, as the Cubs still don't know the type of offensive player he can become. He drew mixed reviews in high school about his offensive ability and hasn't done much to change those opinions through two seasons.
Howard has some excellent tools to build around when you look at his overall swing path and bat speed alone. Add some weight and strength to his frame, and you could see his offensive ceiling rise with more consistent contact. Through his first two seasons, Howard has shown potential, but he hits way too many balls on the ground while his plate discipline is nonexistent at this point. Look for him to work on that aspect of his game this season.
