Chicago Cubs scout Manuel Pestana showed up to Guaicapuro Stadium in Los Teques, Venezuela, in January of 2019 to get another look at Moises Ballesteros. Ballesteros was the player generating most of the attention at Alvaro Diaz’s Venezuelan training facility at the time. But another youngster caught the attention of Pestana that day.
A 14-year-old kid Pedro Ramirez.
“I thought that if this kid manages to develop strength with physical maturity, it will be very interesting,” Pestana said in a message to The Des Moines Register.
Pestana’s prognostication proved right. Ramirez developed both the strength and the physical tools the area scout was hoping to see and became one of the top prospects in the organization. After a strong start to the 2026 season in Triple-A with the Iowa Cubs, he was promoted to the Chicago Cubs in May.
“He can do it all,” Iowa manager Marty Pevey said.
The 22-year-old tallied monster numbers in his first season with Iowa, hitting .312/.395/.547 with a .942 OPS in 43 games in Triple-A before earning his first promotion to the majors. It came after a big season in Double-A when Ramirez won a MiLB Gold Glove for his play at third base with the Tennessee Smokies.
While the development in the field has been a pleasant surprise, the work at the plate is what the Cubs have been hoping for, just like they did with Ballesteros. Ballesteros rapidly rose through the minor leagues and became one of the best prospects in the system. He made his big-league debut last season and was on Chicago’s Opening Day roster, putting together a strong start to the season.
Ramirez is following the same sort of path. Pestana, the scout, first caught on to Ballesteros when the future Cub was just 13, and he kept going back to watch Ballesteros. It was during one of those return trips that Pastana discovered a young Ramirez working out and training at the same facility. Pestana was captivated by how Ramirez carried himself along with his energy and ability to consistently make contact.
Pestana continued to keep close tabs on Ramirez. He told Cubs officials about the young switch-hitter who could play multiple positions and boasted a sweet-swinging bat.
Alex Suarez, now the senior director of international scouting operations for the Cubs, listened to Pestana continually praise Ramirez. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cubs were short-staffed and Suarez couldn’t get to Venezuela. So he had to rely on Pestana’s reports and of video he watched of Ramirez.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of clean-up necessary with the swing,” Suarez said.
The Cubs signed Ramirez in 2021 for reportedly $75,000. The investment has paid off, with Ramirez quickly moving through the system with that consistent bat. Ramirez hit .359 in 50 games in the Dominican Summer League in 2021. He followed that up by tallying an .869 OPS in stops between Rookie Ball and Single-A in 2022. Ramirez spent the entire 2023 season in Single-A and then reached High-A in 2024, continuing to hit at every spot.
Then came the strong 2025 season.
Ramirez spent the entire year in Double-A, hitting .280/.346/.386 while playing Gold Glove defense at third base. The defense may have been the most impressive part. Ramirez spent his entire career bouncing around the field, playing second base, shortstop, third and the outfield. As he got more work at third, he set a high standard for himself.
“Everyone said it’s almost impossible to win this Gold Glove and I wanted to challenge myself and show myself that it could be done,” Ramirez said through an interpreter before being called up.
Suarez likes that there isn’t a situation or moment too big for Ramirez, who loves to be challenged. If a team needs a big at-bat, he can be a go-to guy.
Ramirez wanted to make sure it stayed that way for the 2026 season but knew some improvements needed to be made. In a game dominated with a need for power, Ramirez had to start slugging more. He spent his offseason on a farm he purchased in Venezuela after signing with the Cubs. When Ramirez wasn’t tending to cattle, goats and horses, he was in the gym.
At spring training, Ramirez worked on trying to get the ball in the air more. The improved power showed up, with Ramirez belting a pair of home runs in 15 big-league spring training games with the Cubs. The Cubs started looking differently at Ramirez when it came to his makeup at the plate.
“There’s a lot of similarities to Nico (Hoerner) but now that he’s grown into some power, this is really encouraging,” Suarez said.
Ramirez hasn’t slowed down. In fact, he’s raked all year. Against Triple-A pitching, at a level he’d never faced before, hasn’t posed any problems for him. Ramirez has already surpassed his career-high of eight home runs with nine long balls in Triple-A. He connected on his ninth homer of the year on May 10 when he smashed a 397-feet bomb that had an exit velocity of 102.6 mph off the bat.
There’s a long way to go in the season but Ramirez has already shown enough to make him one of the most talked-about players in the system. He’s hitting and putting together highlight-reel defense playing second and third.
During a game against Nashville earlier in May, Ramirez was playing second base and laid completely out to his right to snare a line drive. In the same series, he made a diving stop up the middle on a ball that bounced off the mound. Ramirez then got up and delivered a perfectly placed throw.
The plays have become routine for Ramirez, who has also logged time in the outfield and swiped 17 bases this season. Pevey believes part of the reason why Ramirez does so well on defense is he doesn’t take his at-bats with him out to the field. That’s a rare skill for any player but certainly for any player his age.
“He’s just a really good baseball player,” Pevey said.
The key is to sustain his success and build on it.
“The potential I saw in him when he was only 14 years old became a reality and he’s proved that he belongs in the big leagues because of his maturity, his tools and his natural talent,” Pestana said.
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Pedro Ramirez could be an up-and-coming star. How the Cubs found him.