The country’s best high school baseball players have two choices upon graduation – play for the college they committed to, or sign with a professional organization.
The players who are good enough to go pro, but feel like they need to fine-tune their skills while enjoying their youth a little longer, opt for college ball. Those who absolutely dominated in senior year, to the point of where they could do the same in college, tend to go pro.
One high school standout who opted for the latter was former UNC baseball commit James Triantos, the Chicago Cubs’ second-round, 2021 MLB Draft selection who is among their Top 10 prospects.
On Veterans’ Day (Saturday, Nov. 11), Triantos was named the MLB’s Arizona Fall League MVP after amassing a deadly .417 batting average, which included an AFL-leading five triples, second-place finishes with a .679 slugging percentage, 1.144 OPS, 35 hits, 57 total bases, plus a third-place ranking with a .495 on-base percentage.
Your AFL Offensive Player of the Year! @cubs @JamesTriantos pic.twitter.com/3wP9lvCplp
— Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22) November 12, 2023
Triantos, listed as a second baseman on the Cubs’ official Top Prospects list, is currently in AA ball with the Tennessee Smokies. He’s currently competing for time with Andy Weber at the AA level, but only has Chase Strumpf (AAA) and Nico Hoerner (MLB) to surpass on the organizational depth chart.
Given the type of player Triantos is, it definitely would’ve been fun to see him come through Carolina.
The fact that Triantos is already hitting over .400 in minor league baseball, though, shows he’s exactly right where he’s supposed to be.
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