Cubs top prospect is making Opening Day roster decision look worse fast

With Seiya Suzuki opening the season on the IL, the Chicago Cubs had a clear runway to give top prospect Kevin Alcántara in right field. Instead, the Cubs optioned Alcántara to Triple-A Iowa to open the season, opting to give Matt Shaw an early look in the outfield. There is value in establishing Shaw's baseline in the outfield, but now would have been the time to give Alcántara a look.

The 23-year-old outfielder made his debut with the Cubs at the end of the 2024 season, and while there was hope he would have a larger role on the team in 2025, he only appeared in 10 games. Suddenly, the Cubs' top prospect enters a year where he only has one minor-league option remaining.

With Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki free agents next offseason, ideally, the Cubs should know by the end of the season if the young outfielder can be handed the keys to one of the corner outfield spots. It's why Suzuki's injury would have been the perfect opportunity, giving Alcantara an extended look and far more substantial than his previous two stints at the major league level.

There's a similar understanding needed for Shaw by the end of the season, so there's no real fault in the team's logic to give their former first-round pick the majority of the starts in right field to open the season.

But when it hasn't been Shaw, it has been Michael Conforto, and that's been problematic.

Kevin Alcántara may soon force the Chicago Cubs' hand

It feels like a wasted opportunity by the Cubs. The former New York Mets All-Star, who looked lifeless with the Los Angeles Dodgers, is hitless through his first seven plate appearances with five strikeouts. Conforto being on the Cubs' roster will resolve itself soon enough, but it felt like those plate appearances should have gone to Alcántara.

With the Iowa Cubs to open the year, Alcántara has been on a tear. He has 5 hits through his first 26 plate appearances with 2 home runs and a wRC+ of 138. There's an easy argument to make that Alcántara is more deserving of a roster spot than Conforto and especially Dylan Carlson, who has yet to register a plate appearance this season.

Assuming that success continues for Alcántara over the next several weeks, a course correction will happen with the final spots on the Cubs' bench.