The Chicago Cubs had the day off on Thursday after losing their last series against the Detroit Tigers.
On Friday, the Cubs will begin a new series with the Pittsburgh Pirates (on the road). On Thursday, the news broke that Chicago would be promoting James Triantos to their big league squad. Chicago is 57-45, but seven games back of the Brewers in the NL Central.
Ahead of the Pirates series, late Thursday night, it appears that the Cubs’ corresponding move has popped up on their transactions page, and Kevin Alcantara will head back down to the minors in a demotion roster move.
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Cubs Announce Kevin Alcantara Demotion
Per MLB.com’s transactions page, late Thursday night, the announcement was made that the Cubs will be optioning Kevin Alcantara to AAA, likely to make room for James Triantos on the 26-man roster. The team’s social media will likely officially announce the roster move before their game tomorrow in Pittsburgh.
MLB.com wrote (on 7/23): “Chicago Cubs optioned DH Kevin Alcántara to Iowa Cubs.”
The roster move has officially been announced by the club on Friday afternoon:
Kevin Alcántara, 24, has played 19 games with the Cubs this season, but has only recorded 20 total at-bats. It’s the third season he’s seen MLB time with the Cubs. In 2026, over those 20 ABs, Kevin Alcántara has four hits (no extra-base hits), and nine strikeouts.
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Kevin Alcántara’s MLB Career Thus Far
The good news for Alcántara is the fact that he is still a young player with plenty of time to develop.
However, the bad news is that the Cubs are clearly hesitant to give him a plethora of opportunities in the batting order.
He made his MLB debut in 2024 with the Cubs after being a top prospect very quickly. He’s out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and picked up the nickname ‘Jaguar’.
Across 41 at-bats over his 3-year MLB career, ‘Jaguar’ has a batting average of .220 and is still seeking his first big league XBH.
It will be interesting to see what James Triantos brings to the Majors roster, and if it’s a scenario where he will start to pick away opportunities from Alcantara.
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