Jonathon Long has been on a tear offensively, routinely destroying baseball for Triple-A Iowa to establish team leads with nine homers and 41 runs batted in. Long, a ninth-round draft pick in 2023, posted an .852 OPS in 2024 between South Bend and Tennessee. That was enough for the Cubs to start him in Iowa this season, making it a fairly rapid rise for a player who was overlooked coming out of high school and had to walk on at Long Beach State.
Though the runs count the same either way, the majesty of Long’s longballs has been one of the most impressive aspects of his game.