James Triantos – Picture by Todd Johnson
In putting together this list, I am getting the sneaking suspicion that this will be the last year of second baseman being near the bottom of the list. If I was to re-rank the positions today, they would probably move up a couple of notches mainly because of the performance of James Triantos this fall. But he’s not the only one. There are other second baseman in the lower part of the system who could surprise us quite a bit this year. In fact, they may surprise you as soon as I start talking about them.
1. James Triantos
It’s strange to think that Triantos is just 20 years old. He finished 2023 at South Bend hitting .285 with a .363 OBP. He didn’t hit for as much power as some would’ve liked. He did get a late start to the year after suffering a knee jury. In getting to see him almost every day in June and July, I came away impressed by his knowledge of the strike zone and plate discipline. He can easily make contact on any pitch, but he chooses not to. He’s pretty judicious when it comes to what he swings at.
In getting to the ballpark a couple hours before game time, I get to see a lot of things take place that most fans are not going to get to see. That includes infield, practice, batting practice, and just the overall work ethic of players behind the scenes. For Triantos, this year, the kid I first saw in practice up in Appleton Wisconsin was not the same kid I saw in early August in Peoria. In between, Triantos went from a kid who solely worked on hitting to a player who worked a lot on his defense each and every day with the help of D’Angelo Jimenez and roving instructor Dai Dai Otaka. At first, fielding drills did not come easy. But after a couple of months of doing infield drills, Triantos improved a lot from where he began the season. I would expect he keeps working on those things as he’s going to have to play in the field somewhere with his bat and approach.
I don’t really have a lot of expectations for Triantos in 2024. He will begin the year at Tennessee and he should have a lot of confidence after his scintillating AFL tenure where he hit .417 for 6 weeks he was out in Arizona. Triantos might be at that stage of his career where he spends all of the season at Tennessee.
Thankfully, the list does not end with Triantos.
2. Pedro Ramirez
There are a couple of things that impress me a lot about Ramirez. One, he is just 19 years old. He just finished spending an entire season at Myrtle Beach where he had great amount of success in the second half. In that span, he hit .279 with a .383 on base percentage, as well as putting up an OPS of .839.
The second thing I like about Ramirez is that he learned to adapt. In May, he was hitting under .200 for the month when he was placed on the Development List and sent back to Arizona to work on some things. When he returned in June, he hit .297 for the month and looked to be the prospect we’d heard a lot about the previous two years in the Dominican and Arizona.
I am excited to see him every day in South Bend in the first half of the year. I want to see his physicality and how he just naturally moves. I want to hear how the ball sounds coming off his bat. I want to see just how fluid his arm action is in the infield. These are all little things that you don’t find in the box score that are essential to the skill set of each prospect.
When Prospects Live ranked him as their number 10 Cubs prospect, my head had to do a little double take as I did not see that coming at all. We’ll see if any other lists include him and if he is that high.
3. Chase Strumpf
Yes, he still made this list. It’s pretty much a do or die year for him as I’m sure he hears footsteps coming up behind him even though he’s only a phone call away from Chicago. Everything he needs to do to get to Chicago he has the skills that are required. It’s just a matter of production at the plate. Over the last couple of years, he’s turned into pretty much a three outcome guy. He takes his walks, he hits dingers, and he strikes out. When he first came into the system, I thought he was one of the best situational hitters I’ve ever seen. That guy is long gone and I’ll be interested to see who he is in 2024.
4. The Wild Cards
Both Alexis Hernandez and Jose Escobar are going to play all over the ballpark. For the offseason series, they are getting placed in the second base spot because that’s gonna be the position that they play the most. Both were outstanding last summer in Arizona hitting over .300 and I am a little bit pumped to see how Alexis can do in Myrtle Beach. He seems to be a little bit more physical, in terms of strength, than most kids, his age. He does not seem to be daunted by the fact of who his brother is, and he’s proving that he’s his own guy which is how it should be.
As for Escobar, he’s had two successful campaigns in rookie league in the Dominican in 2022, and then in Arizona in 2023. Odds are, he should hit well again this next spring, and might be one of the bigger sleeper candidates the Cubs have.
There are not a lot of mysteries as to who all is going to be playing the second base from Myrtle Beach up to Iowa. In Arizona, that’s still up in the air. Angel Cepeda could be one of those guys that pops in the second half. We might even see Ramon Eriandys manning the position as well. Sandy Sanchez is another option. There are a lot of ways the Cubs could go in extended spring training and in June. It’s going to be basically a hurry up and wait kind of competition.
I’ll be back next week with a look at third baseman as December rolls on. Next week’s post will roll out on Friday instead of Monday because we will be releasing our top prospect lists on Monday through Thursday on North Side Bound.
