The Cubs are giving one of their better young bats a shot at the big league level, and the timing comes right before their series against the Pirates.
Chicago has promoted second baseman James Triantos, according to Geoff Pontes of Baseball America, setting up the 23-year-old for his MLB debut. Triantos has spent the entire season at Triple-A Iowa and enters the move as the Cubs’ No. 7 prospect on MLB Pipeline.
“Hearing the Cubs are calling up James Triantos to make his MLB debut,” Pontes wrote on X.
Triantos has put together a strong year at Iowa, hitting .306/.344/.440 with seven home runs and a .784 OPS across 88 games. He was a second-round pick in 2021 and once ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects.
His bat isn’t the only reason Chicago is intrigued. Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors noted that the Cubs have been expanding Triantos’ defensive profile beyond the infield.
“Though Triantos has spent the bulk of his professional career (2026 included) at second base and third base, the Cubs have gotten him acclimated to playing all over the diamond,” Adams wrote. “He’s spent 76 innings in center field, 45 in left field and nine in right field this season.”
That kind of flexibility could help him carve out a role as a bench piece, especially with the Cubs already set at second base thanks to Nico Hoerner. The bigger question now is how much run Triantos actually gets once he joins the NL Central club.
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