Pedro Ramirez Is The Cubs' Modern Day Ben Zobrist

[Jason Ross]

Image courtesy of © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

The concept of the super-sub was popularized about 15 years ago with Ben Zobrist. He was famous for playing across the field; a plug-and-play hitter who could hold his own (or better) across the diamond at almost any position outside of pitcher or catcher proved to be an immensely valuable asset. The Cubs brought the switch-hitting Zobrist in for the 2016 World Series run where he continued to gain fame for this style of play. In an ironic (and often forgotten) twist of fate, it was Zobrist who earned 119 starts at second base, pushing Javier Baez into the "Zobrist" role (he started 25+ games at at least three positions that season). 

As pitching staffs have expanded and benches have shrunk, this archetype of player is in higher demand than ever. And while teams search for this jack of all trades constantly, it's truly hard to find someone capable of doing it all. Entering 2026, the Cubs had thought they had found their modern day version of this in Matt Shaw; a player drafted as a shortstop, converted to third base in the minors, who would then play across the outfield this season. And through the first few weeks of the year, it certainly looked like they had nailed that. Shaw was looking promising defensively in right field and crushing lefties. However, through a series of wrist sprains, a new challenger to the throne has appeared: Pedro Ramirez.

While it would be unfair to say that Ramirez came from nowhere, it's probably important to remember that when the first pitch of the regular season was thrown, no one thought this was going to be the case. He was always an interesting prospect, but starting the year with no experience above Knoxville as a borderline organizational top-10 prospect, it seemed unlikely that people would be clamoring to see him start come August of the same year. Yet here we are.

Not only did he absolutely smash the competition in Iowa in under 30 games, he's doing similar things in Chicago. So far against some of the best competition the planet has to offer, the rookie has compiled 124 plate appearances and posted a 117 wRC+ in those plate appearances. Overall, he's managed to add 0.8 fWAR in value; in just 45 games, that is a fairly impressive number. 

While Ramirez hasn't played as many positions as Ben Zobrist (not yet, anyway) his versatility and flexibility gives the Cubs something important: options. You can reasonably start him at second or third against most pitchers to give Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson (by sliding Hoerner over to short) and Bregman pseudo days offs at the designated hitter position. He's also started games at DH himself—a 117 wRC+ will allow you to do that. The team has been willing to trust the rookie in some fairly tough spots, too; he's earned playing time against pitchers such as Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes in the last few weeks alone. 

One of the ways he's been able to accrue offensive value is by immediately showing a strong plate approach. We have seen rookies come up and struggle recently, even with hitters who have shown an aptitude for making solid contact (notably Matt Shaw and Moises Ballesteros). Instead, Ramirez has managed to put up a sub-20 K%, a decent 8% walk rate, and an excellent 87% zone-contact rate. This is a strong approach coupled with a lot of contact, and it's an excellent sign for a young talent to grasp that part of the game right away. He's also managed to do so while posting pretty decent exit velocities. That may not sound like a win on paper, but many times players achieve high contact rates by trading weak contact for strikeouts, which lowers their exit velocities. Not so much for Ramirez, who's EV's would rate in the top-half of the league (if he qualified).

Ramirez has been valuable across the field, as well, which makes him even more useful. It's one thing to be able to stand at a position with a glove in hand, but it's another to excel at those positions. Many times, "versatility" comes with the drawback of not being particularly strong defensively at any single position and being just "okay" at a lot of them. While he hasn't played a ton of innings (and we're still very much in small sample territory here) he's graded out neutral at second and as a +2 DRS at third. The Cubs value defensive ability as much as any team in the league, so by showing he's not only capable at multiple positions, but that he can maintain continuity and quality, it's almost assuredly helped him gain favor with the organization.

Another aspect Ramirez has been strong at: baserunning. Sporting a 76th percentile sprint speed, he's added value when on the basepaths. Not only has he added five stolen bases (without being caught once), he's graded out very favorably by FanGraphs' baserunning metrics; adding 1.2 baserunning runs above average. The more places he can impact the game, the more the team can find places to deploy the youngster. 

Not everything is perfect, however, and frankly, it would be weird if it was. His xwOBA (.298) is much lower than his actual wOBA (.341). His batted ball data is more "good" than "great." His barrel% is very low, he does chase a decent amount, and his expected slugging of .355 leads a lot to be desired. He's also doing this in fairly curated appearances; he's not starting every day and it goes to assume the times he's getting his name penciled into a lineup are for specific reasons that work to his advantage. One example of this is how he has been utilized mostly against right-handed pitchers; his batted ball data in Iowa was much worse against lefties and the Cubs have made sure that roughly 75% of his plate appearances at the MLB level have come against his stronger side. 

The good news is that we're still talking about a 22-year-old rookie and that much of this data is just in it's infancy. For example, faster players have a tendency to out-play their xwOBA. We're also far too early in the career of Pedro Ramirez to get too stuck into the expected data. He's just barely over the stabilization point (which would take just sheer luck out of the equation) but as a rookie, we know that these things take a bit of an ebb-and-flow as the player learns and adjusts. He will naturally improve on his expected data as he gets comfortable, learns to pull major-league pitching a bit more, and figures out how the best pitchers on the planet look to attack him. 

Best of all is that while it would have initially seemed like Pedro Ramirez and Matt Shaw would tread much of the same ground, causing them to be superfluous, there is likely enough differentiation that they both can have prominent roles in 2027. Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, fixtures of the Cubs' corner outfield spots for the last half-decade (and for Happ, longer than that) are both free agents at years' end. It wouldn't be shocking to see the Cubs to bring back one, but it's unlikely that they bring back both. Either Ramirez or Shaw (or a platoon!) could reasonably be counted upon for a corner spot next year and the other can revert back into the Swiss-Army-knife role due to their versatility.

While Moises Ballesteros had entered the 2026 season as the de facto designated hitter, the Cubs' further cleared the runway for both of their versatile infield/outfielders by trading him to the Angels in the Ryan Zeferjahn trade. By moving the left-handed hitting Ballesteros, the Cubs did clear up some overlap in Ramirez and their slugging designated hitter/catcher as both look more useful against the same side of pitching. While it wouldn't be entirely fair to say the Cubs' chose their fighter, it's not a stretch to say they preferred Ramirez thanks to his all-around skillset and versatility.

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[macarthur31]

As usual, great write up.  This year's Cub bench was yearning for a savvy, veteran utility player - and it turned out that they got two of them in Michael Conforto and Pedro Ramirez. 

I've had the Suzuki/Happ free agency conundrum on the backburner of my mind, and yet I hadn't thought of the Shaw/Ramirez platoon being a viable option in case Jed only wants to bring one of the two corner OFs back.

[Jason Ross]

41 minutes ago, macarthur31 said:

As usual, great write up.  This year's Cub bench was yearning for a savvy, veteran utility player - and it turned out that they got two of them in Michael Conforto and Pedro Ramirez. 

I've had the Suzuki/Happ free agency conundrum on the backburner of my mind, and yet I hadn't thought of the Shaw/Ramirez platoon being a viable option in case Jed only wants to bring one of the two corner OFs back.

I've really grown fond of Ramirez as a player. He does so many things well. 

My one complaint is such a petty one: #75 is a bad number and I need him to pick a cooler one. 

[mul21]

45 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I've really grown fond of Ramirez as a player. He does so many things well. 

My one complaint is such a petty one: #75 is a bad number and I need him to pick a cooler one. 

Yeah, that's a relief pitcher number and much like PCA, he needs a fast guy number.

[squally1313]

Agreed on #75, but also wishing I would have bought in early on a PCA #51 jersey. 

[Hunter]

You linked to the wrong Pedro Ramirez on the BR link.

[Backtobanks]

2 hours ago, macarthur31 said:

As usual, great write up.  This year's Cub bench was yearning for a savvy, veteran utility player - and it turned out that they got two of them in Michael Conforto and Pedro Ramirez. 

I've had the Suzuki/Happ free agency conundrum on the backburner of my mind, and yet I hadn't thought of the Shaw/Ramirez platoon being a viable option in case Jed only wants to bring one of the two corner OFs back.

I hope Shaw is traded this offseason, so this constant talk of Shaw as an OF on a 90-win team with a ton of money will stop.  

[Jason Ross]

46 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Agreed on #75, but also wishing I would have bought in early on a PCA #51 jersey. 

On a personal point him switching to #4 was great for me. My wife's favorite number is #4 and getting her into a PCA uniform for her first game at Wrigley was an easy sell. All I needed was someone like Dylan Carlson to be #4 this year and I'd be stuck with that for years.

[Jason Ross]

44 minutes ago, Hunter said:

You linked to the wrong Pedro Ramirez on the BR link.

I actually don't control the links when it comes to that. It's an auto-linker that notices names and then auto-creates them. Sadly, Pedro Ramirez is such a common name, it thought I was talking about one, when I was talking about another!

Any source I use will be linked by me, however. 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Sharma just did a piece on Ramirez as well and he dropped this:

Quote

The Cubs have been so impressed with Ramírez that they’re already starting to wonder how he fits into their future. With Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki heading into free agency this winter, the Cubs are getting comfortable with the idea of giving Ramírez an everyday role in a corner outfield spot.

 

[squally1313]

He's certainly still improving, but can we get the xwOBA over .300 before we start talking about an every day corner outfield role. 

[Stratos]

25 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Sharma just did a piece on Ramirez as well and he dropped this:

The Cubs have been so impressed with Ramírez that they’re already starting to wonder how he fits into their future. With Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki heading into free agency this winter, the Cubs are getting comfortable with the idea of giving Ramírez an everyday role in a corner outfield spot.

Very much makes sense.   I assume Shaw and Ramirez will be out there a lot next year, with Alcantara in the mix.  Ramirez will probably DH a bunch too.  Shaw can fill in for days off on the INF and will backup for injuries

Even if they resign Seiya or Happ I figure they sign a Conforto type again this winter.  By 2028 they should have Shaw, Ramirez,, Conrad, Kepley, and Alcantara to play corner OF/DH plus extras as bench depth.

[Bertz]

There's almost no chance the team juat pencils Ramirez into LF and hangs the Mission Accomplished banner.

That said I could see a volume approach to the outfield corners.  Sign two platoon guys, let's call it JJ Bleday and George Springer, and figure between the five of Bleday / Springer / Shaw / Alcantara / Ramirez you'll end up with two outfielders and most of your DH and non-C bench at bats.

[squally1313]

13 minutes ago, Bertz said:

There's almost no chance the team juat pencils Ramirez into LF and hangs the Mission Accomplished banner.

That said I could see a volume approach to the outfield corners.  Sign two platoon guys, let's call it JJ Bleday and George Springer, and figure between the five of Bleday / Springer / Shaw / Alcantara / Ramirez you'll end up with two outfielders and most of your DH and non-C bench at bats.

Yeah could definitely see that. Gives you a bunch of money to address the rotation, and finding a corner outfielder to stabilize things come June is about the easiest need to fill out there. 

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, Bertz said:

There's almost no chance the team juat pencils Ramirez into LF and hangs the Mission Accomplished banner.

That said I could see a volume approach to the outfield corners.  Sign two platoon guys, let's call it JJ Bleday and George Springer, and figure between the five of Bleday / Springer / Shaw / Alcantara / Ramirez you'll end up with two outfielders and most of your DH and non-C bench at bats.

That's more of my guess on it, as well. I highly doubt they would waltz into next year with the idea of Shaw/Ramirez as the only guys there. I do think they would bring in some sort of competition for them to clear, and someone to support them. 

However, I do think Pedro Ramirez, in some form, will be part of a chunk of their plans. Sharma's article points to it. The way the team shot down most of the trade talk around him points to it. His playing time points to it. It probably won't be as the "LF and only the LF" but I'm expecting that the team sees him as a 400 PA guy next year in some way shape or form.

[JunkyardWalrus]

So glad he wasn’t moved at the deadline.

He looks in control of his abs, for the most part, whereas his peers, Alcantara, Mo B, Shaw, Cassie, etc., look reactionary if not a bit lost. Ala PCA before he became a monster.* I dunno. He seems to get it, and he’s what, 22? 2 years younger than Shaw and PCA?

Would like to see him get a couple days more days in the field, just to get the regulars more rest. Including Busch. He seems to be pretty damn good at 3b, and can hold serve at 2b. Should be able to handle 1b.

He's also played 37 innings in LF last year in AA, didn’t have a chance at AAA before being promoted. I have no idea how he looked out there, but him in the OF isn’t unprecedented.

(* - Bregman has already been worth the contract, in my eyes, just for his PCA whispering. Whatever else happens with him is gravy)

 

[Stratos]

I see Shaw as more of a supersub type than Ramirez.  He's a better fielder and athlete than Ramirez so with both on the roster I think CC will be more likely to move Shaw around the INF and OF than Ramirez.

Ramirez has the switch hitting and overall hitting similarities to Zobrist though and similar positions so I get the comparison, he's more 1:1 to Zobrist than Shaw.  And maybe Ramirez ends up being a solid fielder so they don't have issues moving him around even with Shaw on the roster.

It's nice to have both on the team.

[Geographyhater8888]

I have nothing to back this up with but he seems to use the entire field, which would make shifting useless and enable him to outperform his xwOBA. Is it just me?

The 2016 Cubs don’t win a World Series without their historically deep bench either. A 10th man who’s worth 2+ wins is extremely valuable. I wish he could play 1st base. 

Edited yesterday at 10:22 AM by Geographyhater8888

[Jason Ross]

10 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

I have nothing to back this up with but he seems to use the entire field, which would make shifting useless and enable him to outperform his xwOBA. Is it just me?

The 2016 Cubs don’t win a World Series without their historically deep bench either. A 10th man who’s worth 2+ wins is extremely valuable. I wish he could play 1st base. 

The opposite. Hitters who outperform their xwOBA tend to pull the baseball. xwOBA does not factor in directional hitting. Pullside hits have better results thant going center or right. Isaac Parades consistently out performs weak xwOBA because he pulls such a heavy amount of baseballs (specifically in the air). 

[Geographyhater8888]

7 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

The opposite. Hitters who outperform their xwOBA tend to pull the baseball. xwOBA does not factor in directional hitting. Pullside hits have better results thant going center or right. Isaac Parades consistently out performs weak xwOBA because he pulls such a heavy amount of baseballs (specifically in the air). 

Yeah pulling fly balls is the most common way to beat it, but once teams have enough spray chart data, a lot of those batted balls that previously missed gloves are hit right into shifts. If you’re making solid contact in every single direction at random, you’ll continue finding gaps. That’s what I’m wondering. 

Edited yesterday at 10:38 AM by Geographyhater8888

[mul21]

6 hours ago, Stratos said:

I see Shaw as more of a supersub type than Ramirez.  He's a better fielder and athlete than Ramirez so with both on the roster I think CC will be more likely to move Shaw around the INF and OF than Ramirez.

Ramirez has the switch hitting and overall hitting similarities to Zobrist though and similar positions so I get the comparison, he's more 1:1 to Zobrist than Shaw.  And maybe Ramirez ends up being a solid fielder so they don't have issues moving him around even with Shaw on the roster.

It's nice to have both on the team.

Based on what?

[Tryptamine]

So through 46 games he has now put up 1.0 fWAR putting him on 3.5 fWAR/162 pace, but he only has 129 PAs in those 46 games which is 2.8 PAs a game, so he's obviously not playing a full game on many of those days. If we view it by PAs and spread it over 600 PAs, that's 4.7 fWAR. 

[Paul7]

23 hours ago, mul21 said:

Based on what?

Shaw had excelled at every previous baseball level

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, Paul7 said:

Shaw had excelled at every previous baseball level

Welcome to NSBB.

Shaw has excelled at every other previous baseball level, but to be fair, so has Pedro Ramirez. Ramirez hasn't been as ballyhooed, and I'll admit, I probably slept on him a little more than I should have myself, but Pedro Ramirez has been very good. His worst full-season data came from High-A as a 20 year old where he was still 12% better than average despite being well below average age-wise.

Shaw does have an advantage in terms of sprint speed, so making an argument over who's more athletic, you can point to that. Defensively? It's a lot harder to pinpoint yet. Minor league defensive metrics are essentially non-existent for public consumption. The eye test is wildly wrong most of the time, but Ramirez did win an MiLB gold glove at 3b. So do with that information as you please. Shaw was great at 3b last year and so far in very small samples, Ramirez has been too. I'm not sure there's a clear cut answer to that one yet.

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 hours ago, Paul7 said:

Shaw had excelled at every previous baseball level

Welcome to the dark side! 😄