Inside The Cubs

Top Cubs Prospect Named Arizona Fall League Offensive Player of the Year

Saturday, infield prospect James Triantos became the first player in Chicago Cubs franchise history to win the Arizona Fall League Offensive Player of the Year Award.

Jack Vita

Top Cubs Prospect Named Arizona Fall League Offensive Player of the Year
Top Cubs Prospect Named Arizona Fall League Offensive Player of the Year /
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Chicago Cubs infield prospect James Triantos made franchise history Saturday evening, when he received Offensive Player of the Year Award honors for the 2023 Arizona Fall League season.

Triantos becomes the first Cubs player to win the Award, since the Award was introduced in 2021. That same year, Cubs outfield prospect Nelson Velazquez took home AFL MVP honors. Only four Cubs have been named MVP of the Fall League: Velazquez, outfield prospects Jason Dubois (2003) and Sam Fuld (2007) and third base prospect Kris Bryant (2013).

Over 22 games, Triantos batted a remarkable .417, while posting a .495 On Base Percentage and a 1.174 OPS. Triantos led the AFL in triples (5) and placed third in the league in OBP, second in AVG and second in OPS.

San Diego Padres outfield prospect Jakob Marsee was named the 2023 AFL MVP, after slashing .391/.508/1.215 while tallying five home runs and 20 RBI across 24 games.

Triantos' stellar play has drawn comparisons to Dustin Pedroia, and his impressive performance earned him a spot in the Fall Stars Game last Sunday.

Inside the Cubs recently sat down with Triantos for an exclusive interview. When asked what the keys to his success have been in the Fall League, Triantos made it clear that he wasn't overthinking things.

"Just keeping it simple," Triantos said. "I don’t try to do too much. I just get in the ground and start early. That’s really it. That’s it. Keep it simple, get in the ground, start early. That’s it. Those are my two things that I’ve been saying to myself over and over again. And it works for me because it’s easy. It’s easy to repeat and I don’t really define anything else that I’m doing, so I like it that way."

Triantos spent the majority of the 2023 season at High-A South Bend, where he slashed .285/.363/.753 with four home runs and 46 RBI.

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Jack Vita
JACK VITA

Jack Vita is a writer and contributor to Sports Illustrated's Inside the Cubs, and host of the Jack Vita Show, a popular sports podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever podcasts are found. Jack is a 2017 graduate of Valparaiso University, in northwest Indiana. Since completing his degree, Jack has created his own independent sports media outlet (JackVita.com) and podcast (the Jack Vita Show). He has featured prominent guests from the worlds of sports and entertainment including Brian Urlacher, Scot Pollard, Bob Nightengale, Dan O'Dowd, and Survivor icons Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Cirie Fields, Danni Boatwright and "the Dragon Slayer", Coach Benjamin Wade. While studying at Valparaiso, Jack was the school newspaper's beat writer for the Valpo Crusaders men's basketball team, which won three straight Horizon League championships from 2015-2017. Traveling to cover the team, Jack had a front row seat to one of the nation's best mid-major teams, headlined by future NBA Draft pick Alec Peters and coached by NCAA Tournament hero Bryce Drew. Jack hosted a weekly sports radio show and provided play-by-play and color commentary services for ESPN 3 and the university's student radio station, WVUR-FM, 95.1 The Source, covering Valparaiso men's soccer, women's basketball, softball and volleyball. Jack also covered these sports, in addition to men's and women's tennis, baseball and women's soccer for the school newspaper, The Torch. While he was in college, Jack interned for and co-hosted Jewell On Sports, a sports radio program on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha, Wisconsin. There, he interviewed various pro athletes such as Ahman Green, Javon Walker and Javier Arenas, in addition to talking sports with the late, great Brad Jewell. Jack also interned for 22nd Century Media, a now defunct newspaper corporation that provided news to the North Shore of Chicago. With 22nd Century Media, Jack wrote post-game recaps, feature stories about local athletes, reviews of local restaurants and compiled the newspaper's "Pet of the Week" and "Athlete of the Week" sections, while providing copy-editing services. Before attending Valparaiso, Jack enrolled at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he studied for two years before transferring. He is a high school graduate of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois. You can follow Jack on Twitter @JackVitaShow, subscribe to his podcast, the Jack Vita Show, wherever podcasts are found, and reach him via email at jack@jackvita.com.

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