Trade chip or future piece? Right now, Pedro Ramirez happy to help Cubs: ‘It’s always been a dream of mine’
ST. LOUIS — Pedro Ramirez had his eight-game hitting streak come to an end Wednesday, but he’s still got five multi-hit efforts in his last nine games.
Despite sporadic playing time, the Cubs’ rookie infielder carried a .467 average and 1.133 OPS over eight games into Wednesday’s extra-inning loss, in which he was on base twice with a pair of walks.
Ramirez has taken advantage of an opportunity and stuck around as a positive contributor on a Cubs team with one of the best records in baseball and championship-level expectations.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to be on a competitive team,” Ramirez said Wednesday through an interpreter. “You go out there and you play with that passion. You have that mindset of: ‘We have to win. We’re going to win.’ It’s really exciting to be part of that.
“It’s always been my aspiration, my goal, to be part of a group like that, a competitive group.”
Ramirez is undoubtedly making an impact. But has he made a big enough impact that he’s played his way into a trade conversation or two ahead of Monday’s trade deadline?
As a young player — he’s graduated from prospect status but was among the Cubs’ highest rated prospects earlier this year — he’s at least a sensible candidate to be mentioned as Jed Hoyer’s front office pursues impact pitching to best equip the roster for a deep playoff run.
Hoyer balked at the price of pitching at last year’s deadline, opting against mortgaging the future. After pitching-depth issues helped the Cubs make an earlier-than-hoped postseason exit, Hoyer traded prospect Owen Caissie for righty Edward Cabrera in the offseason.
If the Cubs are to avoid the same fate this October, it would figure to require parting with young players of note.
Fans have speculated that Ramirez could be among the most attractive, and his performance has backed up that idea.
“It’s awesome for him to be in there and produce,” left fielder Ian Happ said. “He’s a good player. He’s got a lot of great tools that you see on display. He’s a gamer.”
Apart from the trade talk, Ramirez has proven himself worthy of consideration to play a featured role for the Cubs in the future.
But with infielders Nico Hoerner, Alex Bregman and Dansby Swanson signed to big-money, long-term contracts, it’s a wonder how Ramirez would fit into the puzzle.
The guys helping him learn as a young player — “watching them has really helped me a lot with my defense,” he said — could prevent him from finding regular playing time, perhaps a factor in any decision to use him as a trade chip this summer.
But Hoyer cautioned against assuming youngsters would be heading out the door.
“The players that people were talking about as trade chips at this point, those are the players that next year may be impacting us,” Hoyer said. “You always have to keep that in mind.”
Big-time Boyd
Lefty starter Matthew Boyd threw seven scoreless innings Wednesday and has a 1.93 ERA since returning from the injured list in late June.
It’s the ace-type performance an injury-defined pitching staff needs down the stretch.
Milner on the mound
Lefty reliever Hoby Milner, working back after a late-June appendectomy, threw a 1-2-3 inning during a minor league rehab outing Wednesday at Triple-A Iowa.
Manager Craig Counsell said Milner will make another rehab appearance before returning.
Starting-pitcher swap
The Cubs will throw righty Javier Assad against the Cardinals on Thursday, moving lefty Shota Imanaga, the previously announced probable starter, to Friday’s series-opener against the Yankees, opting to get the southpaw an extra day of rest.
Bullpen move
The Cubs swapped pitchers in their ‘pen Wednesday, bringing right-hander Jake Woodford up from Triple-A Iowa and designating righty Andrew Wantz for assignment.
Time change
The Cubs’ Aug. 30 game against the Reds has a new start time of 6:20 p.m. to accommodate NBC’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast.
Pitching will be the Cubs’ obvious focus at the trade deadline, but in the days leading up to Aug. 3, the position-player group is putting up big run totals and showing the winning foundation they can be come October.
Having put the front office in a position to buy at the trade deadline, the Cubs are simultaneously excited by what they’ve already got and what they might add in the coming days.
As Jed Hoyer’s front office looks to improve the pitching staff before Monday’s trade deadline, an earlier-in-the-summer deal might be paying off, if Peterson keeps pitching like he did Monday in St. Louis.