From the first time he stepped on Marist’s campus as a freshman in 2022, Ethan Conrad was on a mission: get selected in the MLB Draft.
It was a lofty goal; only 20 Red Foxes had been selected at that point. Less than three years later, the Chicago Cubs picked him 17th overall, exceeding his original dream just to hear his name called at all.
“The fact that it actually happened, and it was in the first round, is pretty crazy. I don’t think I would have expected that,” said Conrad.
Conrad, who still had a year of eligibility left after spending last season at Wake Forest, signed with Chicago a week after they selected him on July 20.
In the past decade and a half, the Cubs have nailed their first-round position player selections; Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber played key roles in Chicago’s 2016 World Series championship squad that broke their 108-year drought.
Their current team rosters former first-rounders Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw – even last year’s first-round selection, Cam Smith, has already debuted in the big leagues after getting dealt to the Houston Astros as part of the package that brought Kyle Tucker to Chicago last winter.
Conrad inked a $3,563,100 signing bonus, over $1 million below his draft slot value. The move is similar to Schwarber, who in 2014 signed for almost $1.5 million below his fourth overall slot value. Chicago saved money on Schwarber, which they ultimately used to sign more of their draft picks who were contemplating going to college, including current big leaguers Dylan Cease and Justin Steele.
Despite eventually transferring to Wake Forest, one of college baseball’s top programs, and being picked in the top half of the first round, Conrad was not always highly sought-after. As a student at Saugerties High School, in addition to Marist, he received interest from other smaller-sized northeast schools, such as Albany, Seton Hall and Northeastern.
Upon arriving in Poughkeepsie, Conrad leaned on experienced upperclassmen to help him with the jump from high school to Division I baseball.
“I worked hard with Dylan Hoy and Johnny Decker and guys like that to get me ready for the season,” said Conrad. “It was definitely intimidating at first, but then once we played a few games, I understood it more and felt a lot better about it.”
Conrad started 46 of the team’s 52 games and put up a promising season, earning All-MAAC Rookie Team honors and winning MAAC Rookie of the Week two times. After posting a .320/.371/.442 slash line in his freshman year, Conrad returned home for his first taste of collegiate summer ball in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL).
While most players stayed with host families, Conrad enjoyed the comforts of staying at home as a member of his local team, the Saugerties Stallions.
“Living at home for my first summer ball experience was honestly the best thing that could have ever happened to me because summer ball is tough,” said Conrad. “I had my parents at every game, I had support there to watch me. It made it that much easier to fall into the routine of playing every day.”
In 33 games, Conrad hit .330 and drastically cut down his strikeout numbers. In 200 plate appearances at Marist, Conrad struck out 49 times and only worked 14 walks in contrast to 18 strikeouts and 12 walks in 105 plate appearances in the PGCBL.
Conrad brought the more focused approach to the plate for his sophomore year at Marist, where he put together arguably the greatest single season in program history.
“I knew I was going to be a big part of the team and I locked in on my training every single day. The main thing was just not taking any pitches off,” said Conrad. “I realized that it is more tiring to play that way, but the results are way better.”
Conrad led the team in just about every offensive category, swinging for a .389/.467/.704 slash line. His astonishing 1.171 OPS can be partially credited to his 13 triples, which led the country in 2024. He hit four of them in one game against Saint Peter’s, becoming the first player in NCAA history to do so.
“I looked back at the end of the year and I was like ‘Oh my God… that was a really good year.’”
Ethan Conrad
It was not until about halfway through the season that Conrad began to realize he had the skill to play at a bigger program. Between not knowing if it would be his last season at Marist and the fact that he knew it was his final season with his senior teammates, Conrad focused on cherishing the season in Poughkeepsie.
“I knew it was Colin Mackle’s last year, Johnny Decker’s last year, Justin Kapuscinski, Danny Moshier, too. I knew it was my last year with all those guys,” said Conrad of his senior teammates. “I just wanted to try and focus on trying to win with all of those guys.”
The Red Foxes nearly won their way out of the elimination bracket at the 2024 MAAC Baseball Championship, but fell short after losing to Fairfield in a back-and-forth battle. In Marist’s four tournament games, Conrad hit .350 with three home runs, a double and seven runs batted in, landing him on the All-Championship Team.
A week following the close of Marist’s season, Conrad entered his name in the portal and was met with immediate interest from big-name programs.
“Instantly, my phone was just blowing up,” said Conrad. “I had a lot of prestigious schools calling me, and I didn’t really know what to do.”
Conrad consulted with his advisor, who helped him outline a list of the top schools he was interested in. He only visited three schools: Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Wake Forest. Though he enjoyed his time at Vanderbilt and Arkansas, Conrad was immediately drawn to the coaching staff at Wake Forest.
“That was the biggest part of it, just being comfortable with the coaches,” he said. “It felt right at the time.”
Before getting his career at Wake Forest started, Conrad returned to Saugerties for his second summer in the PGCBL, where he hit .469 with five home runs and 19 RBI in 13 games. That performance caught the attention of the premier league on the summer ball circuit: the Cape Cod Baseball League.
The jump to a more competitive league did not slow Conrad down; he kept up his dominance at the plate, slashing .385/.433/.486 in 30 games. He was named to the All-Star Game as a starter, sharing the lineup card with a few eventual top 75 picks in the 2025 MLB Draft, including Marek Houston (16th), Brendan Summerhill (42nd) and Murf Gray (73rd).
“I was nervous at first, but I stuck to my routine and ended up playing really well,” said Conrad. “I think that gave me confidence going into my junior year at Wake Forest to do well there, too.”
After playing first base throughout most of his time with the Red Foxes and spending his days in summer ball in the corner outfield positions, Conrad moved to center field with the Demon Deacons. While his 6’3, 220-pound frame is bigger than that of the average center fielder, he is extremely athletic and fast enough to play up the middle. The positional change and increased versatility helped raise his draft stock.
“It was challenging,” said Conrad. “You go from a small school and now you’re at an ACC program playing center field, one of the most important positions on the field.”
His new location in the field did not change his output at the plate, as Conrad continued to put up dominant numbers. Through 21 games, he smacked seven home runs and posted a 1.238 OPS. Conrad’s year came to a halt there, as he underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in early April.
“I thought it would affect my draft stock a lot… I only played two conference series,” said Conrad. “I was definitely preparing myself to have to return to school.”
Though he had a small sample size as a Demon Deacon, Conrad’s impressive season in the CCBL had already caught the attention of MLB teams, as well as agencies looking for clients to represent in the upcoming draft.
In January, after Conrad took some swings at an event in Miami, a coach came up to him and told him one of his friends wanted to get in contact with him. That friend worked for Boras Corporation, baseball’s marquee sports agency.
Owned by agent Scott Boras, the company’s client list is littered with MLB stars such as Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Gerrit Cole and Corey Seager – all of whom have signed contracts worth over $300 million.
“We went out to dinner and then they kind of just blew me away,” said Conrad, who signed with Boras soon after.
After the season, Conrad declared for the MLB Draft and got back into the transfer portal, keeping both professional and collegiate options open for his future. This time, Conrad warned nearly all schools not to contact him as he only had interest in the top teams in the country. Just two weeks before the draft, Conrad visited Tennessee, which won the national championship in 2024.
Boras Corporation handled contact with MLB teams interested in Conrad, who was projected to go late in the first round of the MLB Draft. The Cubs picked him at 17th overall, another pleasant surprise to Conrad’s original expectations.
“Once the Cubs picked me at 17, I knew I was going to sign for sure. I think my goal was just to be in the first round. Being top 20 was very exciting.”
Ethan Conrad
Though Conrad reported to the Cubs’ spring training home in Mesa, Arizona, he still has some time before he can make an impression on his new organization. While his fellow draft picks are debuting in the Arizona Complex League, Conrad is still a few weeks away from hitting as he rehabs his shoulder injury.
Additionally, at the start of the season, MLB.com ranked Chicago as the eighth-best farm system in baseball, and they have five players ranked in the current top 100 prospects. While center field is occupied by young breakout star Pete Crow-Armstrong, Conrad is ready to be a part of the Cubs’ promising future.
“It’s really awesome to be a part of that, having a team that has younger guys who are really doing some damage in the league this year,” he said. “They’re going to be there for the next couple of years, and to think that I could be up there with them is really cool.”
At 21 years old, Conrad is likely a few years away from debuting with the Cubs’ big league squad.
Edited by Max Rosen
Graphic by Cara Lacey
Photos used in graphic via Marist Athletics, Shannen Hardy/Bourne Braves and Seth Seebaugh/Wake Forest Athletics
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