Chicago Cubs Second Base Prospect Ranks Among Top 5 Among Strong Competition

MLB Pipeline began putting out their 2025 prospect rankings for each position recently, and the first three positions were catcher, first basemen, and second basemen.

Among the second base prospects was Chicago Cubs infielder James Triantos, who was ranked in the fifth position behind Kristian Campbell, Travis Bazzana, Luke Keaschall, and Christian Moore.

Triantos was selected by the Cubs in the second round of the 2021 MLB draft, and has made a steady and relatively quick rise through the farm system. When you look back at when Chicago selected him in 2021, he was signed for $2.1 million over his slot value as a second round pick, likely to prevent him from going to Virginia, but also because they saw something in his game worthy of high-level investment. Ultimately it seems to be panning out as he continues to develop at an impressive pace.

At only 21 years old, he is now in AAA and is nearing an MLB debut in the near future. 2024 was a great year for him as well, and potentially his best both hitting and in the field of his pro career so far. In 115 games played across AA and AAA, he accrued 443 at bats, .300/.346/.773 batting splits, 52 RBI, 27 strikeouts to 54 walks, 75 runs, and 47 stolen bases on 56 attempts (83.9% success rate).

His contact has been one of his best attributes so far through four seasons in the minor leagues, and that was on display especially in 2024. However back in 2023 in the Arizona Fall League, it was even more impressive, as in 22 games he had 84 at bats and put together outstanding batting splits of .417/.495/1.174.

The biggest pitfall for Triantos was finding his footing in the field, as he was tried out at various positions including 2B, SS, 3B, CF, and LF during his tenure so far with the Cubs' feeder teams. He had trouble finding consistency in the outfield or in the hot corner at third base, so ultimately he found a home at second base and was strong there in 2024. He played 739.1 innings there this past season, and had 120 putouts, 194 assists, 31 turned double plays, and only 8 errors, which added up to a .975 fielding rate.

He has also ranked highly on many different platforms, and on Fangraphs comes in as the fifth best prospect in Chicago's farm system, and is the second youngest among those top five aside from Jefferson Rojas. While he still has a little bit of development to do over the course of the next few months, this is ultimately the year where he will be able to showcase his talent and vie for a role with the Cubs 40-man roster. After appearing in the MLB Futures game in 2024, he is certainly nearing the ceiling of what he can do while still in AAA.