PITTSBURGH — For a few moments Friday afternoon before getting in his pregame defensive work, James Triantos stood on the dirt in front of the visitors dugout at PNC Park and slowly turned to take everything in.
This wasn’t Triantos’ first time at the ballpark. He attended a Pirates game about 13 years ago while growing up in Virginia, roughly a four-hour drive from Pittsburgh. But this time Triantos arrived as a big-leaguer.
The Cubs added the 23-year-old to the roster from Triple A ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Pirates and optioned outfielder Kevin Alcántara to Iowa.
“It’s really cool, I’m trying to think of the words, honestly,” Triantos said. “It’s the same game, but it’s really cool to be here. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and I just want to go compete. It’s surreal.”
“I have a dream I want to accomplish. I want to help these guys here, help win games, and I’ve got to show up every single day, ready to play, put my best foot forward. I control my attitude, and I knew I had a really good opportunity. So just take full advantage. I get to play the game I love and get paid for it every single day. Can’t really ask for more than that.”
It took a few attempts until Triantos learned of his first major-league call-up.
He had put his phone on do not disturb around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday at Iowa’s team hotel in Georgia for their series against Gwinnett. With Triantos playing video games before bed, Iowa manager Marty Pevey attempted to call three times to his silenced phone. Next came a call to the hotel room phone, but since he hadn’t ordered anything, Triantos didn’t pick up. Finally, one of Iowa’s hitting coaches banged on his door and brought him to Pevey’s room, where Triantos learned he would be joining the Cubs in Pittsburgh.
“I had no idea,” Triantos said. “I was super surprised, super happy, so that was awesome. … I wasn’t able to sleep all night basically.”
Triantos’ first call was to his parents, then he made a visit to the room of teammate B.J. Murray, his roommate the last four years, to share the news. About 15 of Triantos’ friends and family members will be at PNC Park this weekend to, they hope, watch his MLB debut.
Triantos likely won’t see much playing time, manager Craig Counsell said Friday, given the Cubs’ roster construction. It’s a similar situation Alcántara faced.
“There’s not a lot of playing time for this (roster) spot, and that’s going to be kind of the same situation for James here,” Counsell said. “We’ll kind of see what happens in this stretch of no days off but likely not to be a lot of playing time. So we’re going to move this spot around a little bit to try to not give these guys too much time where they’re sitting on the bench, so to speak.
“James has had a really good year, and I think this is a good introduction to the big leagues for him.”
Triantos, rated the Cubs’ No. 11 prospect by MLB.com and No. 13 by Baseball America, played five positions for Iowa this year, though Counsell sees them being most comfortable using him in the majors at second base, third base and left field.
Despite the possible lack of at-bats during his first taste of the majors, the Cubs believe exposure to the big leagues and all that entails is beneficial to prospects such as Triantos. The main adjustment: Everything is faster.
“From the game itself to decisions happen faster, and you got to be prepared,” Counsell said. “There’s a different language that every individual team speaks, and there’s frankly more accountability to that, so you get it on a little bit of a slower basis if you’re not in there every day, and I think that’s the hope for James is he’ll learn a lot of that and be comfortable with it.”
The Cubs’ position-playing group is a strength, both at the major-league level and among their top prospects.
As the front office evaluates its options to improve a roster that entered Friday tied for the fifth-best winning percentage in the majors 10 days before the trade deadline, the position-player prospects, featuring Triantos, Alcántara and infielder Pedro Ramírez — who started as the designated hitter Friday — potentially can be used in a trade. Utilityman Matt Shaw also could be moved, though Counsell said Friday that he will not be activated from the injured list before the Aug. 3 deadline because of his still-bothersome left hand sprain.
Triantos isn’t worrying about any uncertainty about his Cubs future in the coming days.
“I’m just going to control what I can control,” Triantos said. “When I get an opportunity, go make the most of it and stay present. That’s really it. That’s all. That’s all I’m trying to do right now. So, I’m not too worried about all that other stuff. I feel like it only distracts me. Just focus on winning a ball game every day.”
