PHILADELPHIA — The Cubs had already discussed the possibility of calling up outfielder Kevin Alcantara late in the season. He was on the 40-man roster and finished the Triple-A season on a tear. But there was one issue.
“Calling someone up to not play didn’t make a lot of sense,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Wednesday. “There wasn’t any playing time.”
That changed when designated hitter/right fielder Seiya Suzuki sprained his ankle rounding the bases Tuesday in the Cubs’ victory against the Phillies. Suzuki’s status remains day to day, but the team saw an opening.
Before the Cubs’ 9-6 loss to the Phillies on Wednesday, they optioned utility player Miles Mastrobuoni to the Arizona Complex League continuation camp and recalled Alcantara. The 22-year-old is the Cubs’ No. 6 prospect and the No. 69 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.
“You have to look at the whole game,” Hoyer said of Alcantara. “He’s a really good defender wherever you put him. He’s a really good all-around player. So I think he had a really good year. And it’s nice to go give him a little taste of [the big leagues] at the end of the year.”
With the minor-league season over, Alcantara said he was playing video games in bed when he got the call from assistant general manager Jared Banner.
“I’m excited because I’m here,” Alcantara said. “But I feel like I’m going to work with my family, you know? I don’t feel so, so surprised because I’ve been working for that.”
The Cubs acquired Alcantara in 2021 from the Yankees as part of the trade for Anthony Rizzo. And he has steadily climbed through the farm system since.
Alcantara began the season in Double-A and went 0-for-26 in his first seven games. But he hit .300 in his next 68 games, earning a promotion to Triple-A in August. With Iowa, he recorded an .848 OPS.
“You make a trade three years ago for a young kid, you realize it takes time,” Hoyer said. “His development path has not been slow. He was a [19-year-old] kid in A-ball that was really talented. And he’s gotten physically more mature, and he’s continued to get better.”
On a Triple-A team flush with promising hitters, Alcantara and fellow outfielder Owen Caissie were seen as the most likely to get called up late this season. Alcantara had the advantage of already being on the 40-man roster, but the Cubs will have to put Caissie on the 40-man by this winter to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
“You’ve gotten your debut out of the way, you’ve experienced it, maybe it motivates you going into the offseason,” Hoyer said of the benefits of a late-season call-up. “Maybe next year when you’re up, you have a little less butterflies, a little more understanding of what it’s all about. So that was what we talked about: What would this experience do for [Alcantara] if he’s coming up next year to help us at some point?”
Manager Craig Counsell penciled Alcantara into the starting lineup Wednesday, batting ninth and playing right field in his major-league debut.
He came up for the first time leading off the third inning. He swung at the first pitch he saw, sending a long fly ball into right-center field, where Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos caught it.
“I see middle-middle, I’m swinging,” said Alcantara. “I’m not shy. I need to show the people what my nickname is.”
It’s “The Jaguar.”
Alcantara’s first major-league hit came in the ninth. He beat out a soft grounder to third base, showing off his speed right away, if not his power. Then he scored on Dansby Swanson’s double to cut the Phillies’ lead to three.
“I wanted to in the first AB,” he said. “But in the last AB, I ran so fast and made a hit and felt so awesome and grateful they gave me the opportunity to be there.”
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