Ten years after Kyle Tucker’s predraft workout for the Cubs, a special season is at hand

MINNEAPOLIS — Ten years ago, while their Wrigley Field renovations were still ongoing, the Chicago Cubs hosted a workout for a small group of top prospects ahead of the MLB draft. Kyle Tucker and Ian Happ both attended the showcase on June 3, 2015, along with some construction workers who stayed on the project while the major-league club traveled on an extended road trip. At that time, the video boards were brand new and those players were relative unknowns.

The draft remains an inexact science, but the Cubs have a formula that has endured through regime changes and philosophical shifts. Building around hitters — especially those who have been tested in major college programs and the Cape Cod League — is viewed as a reliable investment strategy. It certainly helps explain why the Cubs have a monster offense and a special season at hand.

There will be nights like Tuesday’s 8-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, but it is pointless to overreact to any one game in a season that will stretch from Japan in March to potentially the end of October. In any event, Jed Hoyer’s front office was already preparing simultaneously for next week’s draft and the July 31 trade deadline.

Look up a decade later, and the first-place Cubs feature three of the first nine players selected in the 2015 draft, giving them athletes who should be in the sweet spots of their careers:

• Dansby Swanson, the College World Series-winning shortstop out of Vanderbilt, went No. 1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks and got traded to the Atlanta Braves six months later. Now halfway through the third season of his seven-year, $177 million contract with the Cubs, Swanson’s overall production has already been worth almost $90 million, according to FanGraphs’ calculations, as a streaky power hitter and a Gold Glove defender. The deal has worked for both sides, and Swanson and Tucker are represented by the same agency, Excel Sports Management.

• Tucker, who went to the same Florida high school that produced Wade Boggs and Pete Alonso, was not expected to fall within Chicago’s draft range. The Houston Astros selected Tucker with the No. 5 pick, incorporated him into their World Series nucleus and ultimately flipped him to the Cubs last offseason in a blockbuster trade.

“It’s just been a joy to watch him play baseball,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “There were tremendous expectations. It’s a new place. It’s a contract year in a new place. And he’s exceeded expectations.”

The Cubs could make the Astros a compelling offer and avoid bankrupting their farm system because they had built up enough organizational depth and nailed their 2024 first-round pick. In less than a calendar year, Cam Smith went from playing for Florida State to making Houston’s Opening Day roster. Whatever happens in free agency, the Cubs have gotten the superstar-level performance this group needed.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” Tucker said. “Having a great group of guys in this clubhouse makes it relatively easy to have that transition. It’s super easy to play with these guys and just go out there and compete for them and for the fans.”

• Happ, a switch hitter out of the University of Cincinnati, was seen as a player who could move rapidly through the farm system and perhaps be used later as a trade chip to get a starting pitcher. With Tucker out of reach, the Cubs had also targeted Andrew Benintendi and Trent Grisham with the No. 9 pick in 2015. After years of trade rumors and questions about where he would fit defensively, Happ is the longest-tenured Cubs player at the major-league level and a three-time Gold Glove-winning outfielder with a full no-trade clause.

There are multiple ways for the Cubs to get better before the trade deadline, but the roster is fundamentally solid. It’s no accident that their offense entered Tuesday ranked second in the majors in runs scored and third in home runs and OPS. Look at all the other first-round picks around the diamond — first baseman Michael Busch (who was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers), second baseman Nico Hoerner and third baseman Matt Shaw.

Pete Crow-Armstrong, the first-round pick traded by the New York Mets in the Javier Báez deal, will be one of the biggest attractions at the All-Star Game. Seiya Suzuki came through Japan’s posting system, but his hitting profile was so intriguing that the Cubs committed roughly $100 million before his first major-league at-bat, and he’s delivering on that enormous potential.

Everyone won’t stay healthy. Slumps happen. Adding a right-handed hitter who could play multiple positions would make a lot of sense. Playoff pitching goes to another level. But the Cubs have a group of position players who have been highly valued by the baseball industry and work well together by blending youth with experience. They are trying to stay in the moment.

“We have an opportunity to do something special,” Happ said. “It doesn’t help you to be in the future. You have to stay in the present in this game. We’re focused on this day. You can see that all the things can fluctuate. You can go from being six games up to a game-and-a-half up to whatever we are now. It can happen quick, in the span of a week. You got to be present.”

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