All season, Chicago Cubs catching prospect Owen Ayers has been among the top players for the Arizona Fall League’s Mesa Solar Sox. If he was a secret before the AFL started last month, he’s not a secret anymore.

The AFL announced on Friday that Ayers was named the breakout player of the year for his performance with the Solar Sox. Ayers isn’t among the Cubs’ Top 30 prospects per MLB Pipeline. That is bound to change for the 24-year-old after the AFL.

Ayers slashed .379/.539/.591 with three homers and 16 RBIs for the Solar Sox. He walked more times (22) than anyone in the AFL and ranked in the top six in hits (25) and total bases (39).

It was a tremendous bounce-back for a player that missed the second half of the season in the Carolina League after he broke his hand.

About Chicago Cubs Prospect Owen Ayers

Ayers played his college baseball at Marshall and went through a position change in college, so he’s only been a full-time catcher for a few years. The Cubs drafted him late in 2024, in the 19th round, and he landed at their Class-A affiliate at Myrtle Beach for 18 games. He slashed .190/.271/.302 with one home run and five RBI.

The hope was that he would make progress both at the plate and behind the plate in 2025, and he was on his way to doing that with the Pelicans before the injury. In 65 games, he slashed .238/.341/.420 with six home runs and 47 RBI. The decision to have him play in the AFL was likely driven by the desire to get him more at-bats this year.

Chicago also only has one Top 30 catching prospect in Moises Ballesteros, who made his MLB debut in 2025 and is the No. 2 prospect in the system behind outfielder Owen Caissie. Accelerating Ayers’ development adds depth to the organization.

MLB.com reported that the winner of the breakout award tends to reach the Majors the following season. The last three winners have done so — Caleb Durbin, 2024; Oliver Dunn, 2023; and Edouard Julien, 2022.

However, each had a much bigger head start in development than Ayers. He’s played in 83 minor league games and hasn’t even played at High-A South Bend. But, after a highly productive AFL, that could be coming for the Sarasota, Fla., native.

It’s also possible the Cubs could offer Ayers a non-roster spring training invite to prepare him for a potential promotion right away in 2026.