MESA, Ariz. -- James Triantos, the Cubs' No. 3 ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline, had an eventful 2021. He reclassified into the Draft, led James Madison High (Vienna) to the Virginia state Class 6 championship as a star shortstop and pitcher, then signed with the Cubs for $2.1 million as a second-round pick. He batted .327/.376/.594 in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League during his pro debut, living up to his reputation as one of the best pure hitters in his prep class.

Jim Callis: James, I'm going to hit you with a tough question first. I went to Oakton High School, your archrival high school. Can we get through this interview in a personable fashion?

James Triantos: Yeah, we can. I actually had a bunch of buddies at Oakton, so don't worry about that.

Callis: For those of you who don't know, James went to James Madison High School, I went to Oakton, both in Northern Virginia. And James won the state title last year as a two-way guy. The first serious question I wanted to ask you was: what went into your decision to reclassify for the 2021 Draft?

Triantos: It was actually, originally, to go to UNC [University of North Carolina] early. I wasn't really thinking about the Draft until after I played in Jupiter, Fla. [at the World Wood Bat Association World Championship in October 2020]. And I just started getting more and more attention. And the more attention I got, the more I started thinking about the Draft.

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Callis: When did you get to a point where you begin to think, I might not make it to Chapel Hill, I might be going the pro route?

Triantos: I didn't really know until the Draft happened. After the first day, I just kind of decided I want to be in professional baseball. I want to make this my life. This is my dream. I want to work towards that. I've done so much to get to this point. I want to take advantage of my opportunity.

Callis: Going into the Draft, did you have a feeling the Cubs would take you or was it more wide open?

Triantos: There were a couple of teams that I knew were kind of heavy on me and the Cubs were one of them, but I never really knew exactly.

Callis: How far in advance when your name got called did you know the Cubs were taking you?

Triantos: Probably about 10 seconds.

Callis: When you got down here to the Arizona Complex League, your bat is the tool that everyone looks at. But your first nine at-bats: 0-for-9, five strikeouts. You're smiling now as I say that. Not that there was a sense of panic, but were you at any point wondering what's going on here?

Triantos: I was definitely wondering what was going on. I thought there was a hole in my bat or something. But it was kind of just relaxing, realizing that I belonged here, I was good enough to play with all these guys. Just having someone instill confidence in me, making sure that I'm alright. Because there was a huge change: I'm across the country, my friends are going to college, everything like that. And I just kind of needed to relax and realize that this is where I want to be. This is my happy place. I love playing baseball.

Callis: As you're well aware, the Cubs have a lot of really interesting young hitters. You were in an ACL lineup with Kevin Alcantara, Owen Caissie, Reginald Preciado, a lot of guys who can hit and hit the ball hard. How much fun was it being around guys like that and just watching various guys rake on any given day?

Triantos: It was very different. I hadn't really seen people on a consistent basis crush balls like that. Owen Caissie spent a lot of time with me when I first got here. Just showed me around, talked to me about hitting, what it's like to be a professional, stuff like that. It was really nice and I needed that.

Callis: You've only got 25 official pro games under your belt but you've also done a lot of minicamp work and now Minor League Spring Training with the Cubs. It has been eight months since you turned professional. How much do you think you've improved? How much have you learned about the game?

Triantos: I've definitely gotten a ton better just watching what people do, listening to the way people think. Especially defensively, there's a ton of stuff that I've learned. It's new. It's hard. It's really fun to retain and listen to the way people work. Like, Owen Caissie is different from Kevin Alcantara. Kevin is a little bit longer and he's a little bit looser, always tight through the ball. Everybody has their own ways to get success.

Callis: I always like to ask prospects to self-scout themselves. If you were breaking down your five tools -- hit, power, run, arm, throw -- how would you describe yourself?

Triantos: I feel like I'm an all-around solid player. I feel like the bat is probably the best part of my game, and then I'd say my arm. My arm is pretty good, too. My defense has definitely improved a bunch since last year, since getting here. And I've gotten faster and bigger and stronger. I've gained probably 10-15 pounds of good weight and I'm eating well. My bat is probably my best part of my game right now but I'm still working on getting better, getting quicker and faster, stronger, everything like that. There's always room to improve.

Callis: You mentioned your arm and as a pitcher, you were up to 95-96 mph at times and pitched James Madison -- as much as it pains me to say it -- to the state title. But congratulations on that. Are you going to miss pitching at all?

Triantos: I do, but I also don't. There's a lot of maintenance work that I don't really have to worry as much about now, so that's kind of a big thing. I was always having to keep up with my arm and make sure everything's good, as opposed to just being able to go out and throw and not worry about being sore. A ton of recovery and stuff like that. But I love being in control of the game on the mound. It was a lot of fun.

Callis: And you mentioned your defense. How much does it matter to you to potentially stay at shortstop rather than move to third base or go to second? Do you have a position you prefer?

Triantos: As long as I'm on the field, I couldn't care less. But I love playing shortstop. I love playing on the left side of the infield and I'm working really hard to try and stay there. Getting the reps in, retaining more information, learning, understanding, just developing myself as best as I can.

Callis: I'm sure you've seen it because I think almost every story about you mentions that scouts compare you to Alex Bregman or David Wright. Do you have a favorite comparison you've heard? What do you think when you hear stuff like that?

Triantos: I just like to think of myself as my own player. If I'm going to be honest, it's great to be compared to all those Major League players, but I want to work so hard to put myself in a position where I can be better than them. Right now, it's really, really cool to be compared. It's an honor. But I really just think of myself as my own player. I do my own work. That's the way I think about it.