Ben Cowles and Juan Tomas are two players that Cubs fans should keep an eye on in 2025 according to the panel on Road to Wrigley. 

Cowles and Tomas were each picked as both a ‘Prospect to Watch’ and a ‘Breakout Prospect’ in 2025, highlighting a group of six up and comers for the Northsiders. 

Cowles, 25, lit it up in Arizona, posting a .345 batting average and 1.042 OPS with six doubles, one homer and four RBI in 14 games.

“He’s a guy at the Triple-A level who can do a little bit of everything,” Alex Cohen said on Road to Wrigley. “He’s on the 40-man roster, and because of that, if there’s an injury up at the big leagues, look out, if Ben Cowles is playing good, Ben Cowles is going to be in the big leagues.”

Cowles, the Cubs number 22 ranked prospect according to MLB.com, was acquired in 2024 from the Yankees as the return for Mark Leiter Jr. Cowles, a former 10th round pick out of the University of Maryland, is known for his defensive versatility, seeing significant time in 2024 at shortstop, second base and third base.

Lance Brozdowski chose Juan Tomas as his prospect to watch. The 17-year-old was signed out of the Dominican Republic for 1.1 million dollars and Brozdowski already has the 6-foot-3 shortstop as his number 10 prospect in the Cubs’ pipeline.

“Super, super athletic for his size,” Brozdowski said. “Talking to people in the organization, on the international side, they are incredibly excited about this guy overall.”

[More: How Cubs prospect James Triantos hones elite plate discipline]

Right-handed pitcher Jaxon Wiggins was picked as Jim Callis’ breakout prospect for 2025. Wiggins, 23, is the Cubs’ eighth ranked prospect for 2025 according to Brozdowski, and was the Cubs’ 2nd round pick out of the University of Arkansas in 2023. 

“He’s got the stuff,” Callis said. “Now he needs to throw strikes and have more consistency. If he does that, I think he’ll be the Cubs best pitching prospect at year’s end.”  

Wiggins had a 4.68 ERA across three levels in 2024, striking out 71 in 59.2 innings pitched, finishing his season in High-A South Bend.

Ethan Hearn, 24, was selected by Cohen as his breakout prospect for 2025. The backstop and former 6th round pick out of high school in 2019, spent his entire 2024 campaign at High-A South Bend, smacking 13 doubles and 10 homers in 65 games.

“He’s a guy, you look at that OPS it comes up every single year,” Cohen said. “If he does have a nice start to the season at the Double-A level, he puts himself on the precipice of the big-league debut, just because of the position, just because of the depth.”

Right-handed pitcher Will Sanders, 23, was chosen by Brozdowski as his breakout prospect for 2025. The former 4th round pick in 2023 out of the University of South Carolina had a 4.66 ERA in 96.2 innings in 2024, striking out 109 across two levels, finishing the year in Double-A Tennessee. 

“Tall guy, downhill fastball, they made some subtle adjustments to him throwing a better sinker now,” Brozdowski said. “They [The Cubs] need somebody to pop on the pitching side and my bet right now is that is Will Sanders.” 

Kevin Alcántara rounded out the group of six future Cubs to watch, as Road to Wrigley host Elise Menaker picked the consensus top 100 prospect for her breakout prospect in 2025. The 6-foot-6 outfielder made his MLB debut in 2024, and was acquired in the Anthony Rizzo trade in 2021. The 22-year-old nicknamed ‘the Jaguar’ finished his 2024 season in Triple-A Iowa and is rated the Cubs number 6 prospect according to MLB.com

The Cubs open up their 2025 domestic slate in Arizona on Thursday, with the game starting at 9:10 p.m. and coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Marquee Sports Network.