Cubs select top-10 prospect James Triantos, two others

The Chicago Cubs announced that they have selected infielders James Triantos and Pedro Ramírez as well as left-hander Riley Martin. Those three are now protected from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 draft. The club’s 40-man roster count is now at 32.

Triantos, a second-rounder out of high school in 2021, has been one of the more promising pure hitters in the system for the past few seasons. His stock is down after a poor season with Triple-A Iowa. Triantos only managed a .259/.315/.370 slash over 480 trips to the plate. He continued to put the ball in play at a high rate but without much authoritative contact. He hit seven homers and posted well below-average exit velocities. Triantos stole 31 bases while bouncing between second base and the outfield, so perhaps he can factor in as a utility piece in 2026.

Ramírez, a 21-year-old infielder out of Venezuela, is now the superior prospect in the eyes of Baseball America. He’s the only member of this trio to crack Chicago’s top 10 prospects on their recent update of the system. He’s a switch-hitting second/third baseman who batted .280/.346/.386 while stealing 28 bags in 563 plate appearances at Double-A Tennessee this year. Ramírez is also light on power but has excellent contact skills. He’ll probably get the bump to Iowa to begin 2026.

Martin is an Illinois native who was a sixth-rounder in 2021 out of Division II Quincy University. The 6-foot-1 southpaw has spent the past two seasons pitching out of the bullpen in Triple-A. He fired 63 2/3 innings of 2.69 ERA ball with a near-31% strikeout rate over 47 appearances. Martin struggles with walks and dished out free passes at a 13.4% clip. He works with a 94 mph fastball and uses a mid-80s curveball as his favored secondary pitch.