Mark McGwire's son is climbing the ladder toward the Chicago Cubs

Mark McGwire was a Chicago Cubs nemesis.

His son Mason is trying to become an MLB player for those same Cubs.

His father, of course, was the slugger who hit 70 home runs in 1998 and more than 500 in his major league career.

Mason is a pitcher. The Cubs picked him in the eighth round of the 2022 draft, and he's currently at Single-A Myrtle Beach.

The younger McGwire made his first start of the 2026 season on Sunday, and he threw two perfect innings before allowing a double and a hit batter in the third. A double play allowed him to escape there, and he went 1-2-3 in the fourth.

Mason McGwire had five strikeouts in the outing, as well.

MORE: Austin Hedges ended a great Guardians day with a proposal

He's trying to work his way back after missing the entire 2025 season with an injury.

Mason is 22 years old and still has plenty of the ladder to climb toward the major leagues, but he's doing what he can.

It may surprise some that Mason McGwire is a pitcher, but his dad Mark actually was, too. 

When USC recruited Mark to play college baseball, it was as a pitcher, not a hitter.

Obviously, the hitting thing worked out quite well in that situation, but it wasn't a given that it would be the path.

Now, Mason is trying to chart his own journey. It can't ever be easy to try and follow in the footsteps of such a famous father. But one solid outing at a time is all Mason can do to try and reach his own dreams.

More MLB news:

• Explaining the absurdity of 2 MLB players named Max Muncy
• This hitter has a worse OBP than his batting average
• Red Sox green uniforms have absurd walk-off magic
• This slider is really good and moves the entirely wrong direction
• This second-generation relief pitcher is on an absurd wins pace