CHICAGO -- One of the reasons the Cubs are confident that a period of contention is on the horizon is not only the core group currently in the Majors, but the talent rising up the organizational ladder. The North Siders boast six prospects on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, and they have all climbed to Triple-A Iowa.

“The safest thing to say is it signals depth,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said recently. “We’ve got a lot of high-quality position players now at the Triple-A level -- young, on the cusp of the big leagues, improving. And that’s where an organization wants to try to get [themselves].”

In Pipeline’s midseason re-ranking of the prospect lists, the Cubs are tied with the Twins, Rockies, Mariners and Guardians for the most players on the Top 100 list. Chicago also has a new top prospect with infielder Matt Shaw -- the Cubs’ first-round pick in the ‘23 MLB Draft -- moving into the No. 1 slot in the revamped list.

Here is a breakdown of the Cubs’ updated rankings:

Here’s a look at the Cubs top prospects:

1. Matt Shaw, INF (No. 25 on Top 100)
2. Cade Horton, RHP (No. 31)
3. Owen Caissie, OF (No. 36)
4. Moises Ballesteros, C (No. 44)
5. James Triantos, INF (No. 60)

Complete Top 30 list »

Biggest jump/fall

Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:

Jump: Jaxon Wiggins, RHP (Preseason: No. 26 | Midseason: No. 10)
When the Cubs lost All-Star catcher Willson Contreras in free agency two offseasons ago, the North Siders gained a compensatory pick in the 2023 Draft. Chicago used that selection (No. 68 overall) on the 22-year-old Wiggins, who missed his ‘23 season at Arkansas due to a comeback from Tommy John surgery.

Flash forward to this season, and a healthy Wiggins has climbed from the Arizona Complex League (rookie level) to High-A South Bend. Through 14 starts overall, the righty had a 4.57 ERA with 46 strikeouts against 26 walks in 43 1/3 innings, while flashing a mid-90s heater (touching 99 mph at times), plus a slider, curve and changeup.

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Fall: Drew Gray, LHP (Preseason: No. 17 | Midseason: No. 28)
The Cubs picked Gray, 21, in the third round of the 2021 Draft out of IMG Academy, but the lefty lost his ‘22 season due to Tommy John surgery. Gray has spent this year with High-A South Bend, where he has been tough to hit but has struggled with command. The lefty had a 4.65 ERA through 18 starts with 73 strikeouts, 59 walks and 37 hits allowed in 62 innings.

New to the list

Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:

No. 8, Cam Smith, 3B (first-round pick in ‘24 Draft)
No. 12, Cole Mathis, 1B (second-round pick in ‘24 Draft)
No. 16, Ronny Cruz, SS (third-round pick in ‘24 Draft)
No. 18, Jack Neely, RHP (acquired via trade from Yankees)
No. 21, Ty Southisene, SS (fourth-round pick in ‘24 Draft)
No. 30, Benjamin Cowles, INF (acquired via trade from Yankees)

Best tools

Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.

Hit: 60 -- Moises Ballesteros (James Triantos)
Power: 65 -- Owen Caissie
Run: 70 -- Brett Bateman
Arm: 70 -- Alfonsin Rosario
Defense: 70 -- Brett Bateman
Fastball: 65 -- Michael Arias (Jaxon Wiggins)
Curveball: 55 -- Drew Gray (Will Sanders)
Slider: 70 -- Cade Horton (Jack Neely)
Changeup: 55 -- Michael Arias
Control: 55 -- Brandon Birdsell (Cade Horton)