The Chicago Cubs made a somewhat surprising move before their weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, calling up versatile prospect James Triantos to the majors. Triantos has been on a great run with the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A since early June, sporting a .340/.384/.487 slash line in his last 40 games. Still, the Cubs have a crowded position group, which has left fans wondering who Triantos is replacing on the active roster without a clear injury. Yet, there are really only a handful of players who could be out of the mix unless there was a freak accident following Wednesday’s series finale against the Detroit Tigers.
So, here are the three likely players who could be out, with Triantos coming in.
Kevin Alcántara
Man oh man, this hasn’t gone the way Kevin Alcántara imagined in 2026. At one point, he was seen as the second-best outfield prospect for the Cubs behind Pete Crow-Armstrong, but Alcántara has fallen off in prospect circles. The 24-year-old has been up a couple of times this season, but Alcántara hasn’t had many opportunities, limited to starts only against left-handed pitchers.
In 19 games this year with the Cubs, Alcántara has a total of 21 plate appearances. While the sample size is extremely small, the young hitter has looked rough at the plate, striking out nine times while only drawing one walk. He’s 4-for-20 without an extra-base hit.
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Justin Dean
Not gonna lie, I always forget that Justin Dean is on the active roster. The 29-year-old backup outfielder has been up since June 19, but he’s only appeared in 12 games with eight total plate appearances. Dean does have minor league options remaining, so the Cubs could simply swap him out on the bench for Triantos and send him back to Triple-A Iowa.
Pedro Ramirez
This would be the worst-case scenario for the Cubs and I’m specifically adding Pedro Ramirez to the list because it momentarily looked like he tweaked something on a swing during Monday night’s game against the Tigers.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell was seen at the top of the dugout steps, talking to either a member of the training staff or a translator after that, potentially thinking about going out to check on Ramirez’s status. The young infielder ended up striking out to end the at-bat in the eighth inning, but he did finish the game, including taking another at-bat in extra innings, and running the bases.
Hopefully, it was nothing, and Ramirez is healthy. He did come in off the bench in Tuesday’s 11-2 win, playing the final two innings at second base and doubling in the eighth inning. So, signs do point to Ramirez being fine, but he’s the only player who has had one moment of looking slightly bothered by a potential injury this week.
Money’s on either Alcántara or Dean going back to Triple-A.
