Cubs Reassign Top Prospect Jonathon Long to Triple-A Iowa Camp

Jonathon Long, the best hitter in the Chicago Cubs' minor-league system a season ago, was reassigned to minor-league camp on March 22, clearing the path for him to open the 2026 season with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs in Des Moines.

Long's return to Principal Park would bring one of the most productive bats in the International League back to a lineup that benefited enormously from his presence in 2025. The 24-year-old first baseman, born in Orange, California, set career highs across the board last season: 140 games, a .305 batting average, 23 doubles, 20 home runs, 91 RBIs, 79 walks and a .404 on-base percentage over 514 at-bats. His .883 OPS led him to a second-place finish among all Cubs minor leaguers, and he paced the entire organization in runs scored (86), hits (157) and RBIs. The Cubs recognized that performance with the Buck O'Neil Cubs Minor League Player of the Year award, and the International League named him to its post-season All-Star team.

Long's surge through the system has been rapid since the Cubs selected him in the ninth round, 266th overall, in the 2023 draft out of Long Beach State. He spent parts of his first two seasons at High-A South Bend and Double-A Tennessee, combining in 2024 to hit .283 with 17 home runs, 70 RBIs and an .851 OPS across 114 games. That included a Southern League Player of the Week honor after hitting .526 in his first seven games with the Tennessee Smokies following a July 19 promotion, and a two-homer game on July 23 in a 5-1 win over Birmingham. Across his first three professional seasons, Long has hit .294/.398/.479 with 44 home runs and 48 doubles in 280 games. MLB Pipeline currently ranks him seventh among all Cubs prospects.

Long arrived in big-league camp this spring as a non-roster invitee, but an elbow injury disrupted his early 2026. He had been activated to the Chinese Taipei roster for the World Baseball Classic but missed the event because of the injury. The Cubs invited him to spring training on February 9, and he was assigned back to the minor-league camp on March 22.

The Iowa Cubs open their 2026 season on March 27 against the Columbus Clippers at Principal Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:08 p.m. Long's presence in that lineup from day one would give Iowa one of the more dangerous right-handed bats at the Triple-A level. His 2025 season included a 10-game hitting streak from August 27 to September 6 during which he batted .359, part of three separate streaks of at least nine games. On July 30, he launched a 412-foot home run that tied a game at 1-1, a shot the Iowa Cubs' own account captured in real time.

Long was not the only Cubs minor leaguer honored for 2025. Right-hander Jostin Florentino, 20, earned the Vedie Himsl Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year award after posting a combined 5-5 record and 2.43 ERA between the Arizona Complex League Cubs and Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Florentino struck out 101 batters and walked just 25 over 81.1 innings across 16 appearances and 14 starts. With Myrtle Beach specifically, he went 4-3 with a 1.96 ERA, allowing three or fewer runs in 10 of his 11 outings, and was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Month for July after going 1-0 with a 0.43 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 21 innings. A native of the Dominican Republic who signed with Chicago as an international free agent in 2023, Florentino also earned a spot on the Carolina League post-season All-Star team in his first season stateside.

With the Iowa opener five days away and Long now in the minor-league camp, the question is not whether he belongs at Triple-A; his 2025 numbers answered that. The question is how quickly his elbow allows him to take the field at Principal Park.