Pedro

Ramírez

Swanson left Sunday’s game with an oblique injury. Pedro Ramírez will likely become the Cubs’ primary second baseman while Swanson is out, with Nico Hoerner moving to shortstop. Kevin Alcántara could rejoin the team as a bench player until Matt Shaw is ready to come off the IL.

Swanson was hurt on a swing and a miss in the third inning. We’re just speculating, but it seems pretty likely that he’ll go on the IL, which would probably make Pedro Ramírez a true regular and worthy of a roster spot in mixed leagues for at least a couple of weeks.

Busch had been mired in a bit of a power outage lately, slashing just .253/.290/.316 with one homer, nine RBI and an 18/4 K/BB ratio over 100 plate appearances in his last 22 ballgames. He’ll get a day off to reset in this one with Pedro Ramirez filling in at first base and batting sixth against Cardinals’ right-hander Hunter Dobbins.

It looks to just be a routine day off. Pedro Ramírez is batting sixth and playing second base in Hoerner’s absence.

It was only a pair of singles, but it’s interesting that the Cubs batted Ramírez in the two-hole with Seiya Suzuki out. Ramírez is hitting .350/.398/.500 in his last 30 games with one homer and four stolen bases, perhaps there’s a Maikel Garcia-type fantasy season in him if he gets enough playing time. This was his first career start anywhere higher than sixth in the order.

Peralta and Holmes are almost assuredly being dealt this week, and the Cubs are looking to add starting pitching. As Passan notes, the Cubs also have “plenty of bats available” that could interest the Mets, like Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramirez in the big leagues, or Owen Ayers and Jefferson Rojas in the minors. It remains to be seen if the teams can make anything work, but the pieces seem to be there.

Hoerner grabs a seat on the bench with red-hot rookie Pedro Ramírez taking a turn at the keystone after connecting for his first round-tripper since April 21 earlier this week. The 29-year-old speedster has been phenomenal since the All-Star break, hitting .417 (20-for-48) across 11 games during that span.

Bregman has really been scuffling at the plate over the past month, slashing .186/.298/.353 with four homers and 19 RBI over 121 plate appearances in his last 26 games. Perhaps taking a day off to clear his head will do him some good. Pedro Ramirez will man the hot corner in his absence and will bat eighth against Braxton Ashcraft and the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.

Ramírez takes a seat for the second straight game after starting three consecutive contests earlier this week. The 22-year-old infielder hasn’t really gotten an extended opportunity with the Cubs. He would be interesting for fantasy purposes in an everyday role. He made the leap from a unheralded contact-oriented hitter with limited power into a potential top-tier prospect with elite bat-to-ball skills and upper-echelon exit velocities earlier this year at the Triple-A level. He’s a name to watch at the upcoming trade deadline in case his playing time equation changes.

Ramírez’s homer was a 414-footer off Reiver Sanmartin in the fifth inning. The rookie was making his seventh start in 21 games since the Cubs called him up on May 23. He’ll likely return to Triple-A at some point now that Matt Shaw is back, but he’d be interesting if the team had a starting job available for him.