Mesa, Ariz. — The Arizona Fall League was stacked with talent again this year, as highly-acclaimed pitchers and hitters made their way to the desert to square off.
Jonathan Long’s pedigree didn’t match the others, as he was only a ninth-round pick of the Cubs in 2023 and is currently their No. 29-rated prospect, but his performance sure did.
The 22-year-old corner infielder from Long Beach State continued his strong start to professional baseball, finishing in the top-5 for both OPS and slugging percentage among the Fall League hitters.
Long batted .338 with six homers, 19 RBIs and a 1.088 OPS in 89 plate appearances. Long acknowledges that defense is not his selling point, and the big bat will be his potential ticket to the major leagues.
“My biggest tool is being able to hit, so I knew I had to make it work,” Long said in a one-on-one interview with Sports Talk Philly. “If it didn’t work, I wasn’t going to have a future in baseball. Seeing it pan out into what it has, that is nice to reflect on, but (in 2025) there is a whole new season and whole new expectations. You’ve got to keep going.”
Jonathon Long had himself a night in the desert.
The @Cubs' No. 30 prospect fills up the box score with three hits and a pro-best five RBIs in @MLBazFallLeague action! pic.twitter.com/GMFwaBMBZB
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 10, 2024
Long had a .973 OPS in his first year with the Cubs’ organization and then hit .283 with 17 homers, 70 RBIs and an .851 OPS in between High-A and Double-A in 2024.
Most hitters take some time to adapt when moving up a level, but Long mashed upon his promotion, hitting .340 with seven homers, 29 RBIs and a sparkling OPS of .983 in 46 games with the Tennessee Smokies.
Long had 35 walks against only 33 strikeouts in his 200 Double-A plate appearances.
“It was a fresh start,” Long said. “I don’t want to talk bad about High-A, but it wasn’t the greatest team. We didn’t play that well at that level, and going to Double-A with a team that had (James) Triantos, (Matt) Shaw, Kevin (Alcantara), it made it easy to fill in and be me.
“Seeing how those guys work, how they performed, it brings the best out of you. I kind of rode that to the end of the year. Even after they got moved to Triple-A, it was like, ‘OK, this is how it is.’ New start, new coaching staff, a change of scenery.”
The trio Long mentioned are among the Cubs’ top-6 prospects, but he didn’t worry about being a later-round draft pick and isn’t consumed by the rankings now.
“I’ve kind of been underrated, I guess, but I really try not to look into all that stuff,” Long said. “Getting caught up in social media and all of that, there can be a lot of downfall. I don’t need that. You have a very limited opportunity to maximize your opportunity in this game, so I try to just do my thing and let everything fall into place.”
Long played mostly third base during the Fall League, though that was mostly because his Mesa Solar Sox team already had four other first basemen.
Wherever he ends up on the diamond, Long is focused on being passable so his bat can do the talking.
“If I can be steady on the defensive side, that will really go a long way for me,” Long said.
Long has answered every challenge he’s faced in the batter’s box thus far, and was asked how confident he is that he can hit Major League pitching.
“In college we were big on nameless and faceless; it didn’t matter who you were facing,” Long said. “You were gonna face a dude every day. You can’t get caught up in all the hype or the statistics on their end. I’ve just got to stick to my plan, what works for me.”
Long has spoken with the Cubs about his future, and the organization has given him advice to continue ascending the minor league ranks.
“I chase the high fastball a lot, so honing in on that,” Long said. “We had a meeting and they were like, ‘They will exploit every little weakness you have, so you’ve got to clean up those details in order to be that polished product when, hopefully, you get to the big leagues.’”
