Moises Ballesteros will be counted on for his bat.
He’s a catcher, but right now, the Chicago Cubs don’t really need him to worry about that. They simply need him to hit.
Sounds like that’ll happen right from Opening Day.
The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney reported Friday night that Cubs manager Craig Counsell informed Ballesteros he’s made the Opening Day roster.
“Cubs manager Craig Counsell informed Moisés Ballesteros that he will be on the team’s Opening Day roster.”
The way I see it, this is about maximizing offense while they figure out the long-term plan.
The 22-year-old lefty hitter from Venezuela made his MLB debut last season and collected 57 at-bats. In that short sample, Ballesteros hit .298 with two homers. Not bad for a first taste of the big leagues.
But it’s what he did at Triple-A Iowa that really caught attention. Ballesteros posted an .858 OPS with a .316 average, 29 doubles, and 13 home runs while driving in 76 runs. Those aren’t just good numbers – they’re the kind that make front offices take notice.
Still a Top Prospect
Even after his MLB debut, Ballesteros remains prospect-eligible and ranks No. 36 in all of baseball on Baseball America’s list entering this season. He’s also 55th on MLB Pipeline and 80th on Baseball Prospectus.
That kind of consensus ranking tells you something about his ceiling.
Ballesteros will likely hold down the DH job early on, though there’s flexibility built in. If Carson Kelly needs an occasional day off and the Cubs can’t bear to take Ballesteros’ bat out of the lineup, they’ll find creative ways to keep him in there.
The formula’s pretty simple: if he hits, he’ll play.
What makes this interesting is the Cubs are betting on offensive upside over defensive refinement. They’re not asking Ballesteros to handle a full catching workload right away – they just want him to do what he did at Iowa.
All things considered, it’s a smart approach for a young hitter who’s shown he can adjust quickly to new levels.
