With Moises Ballesteros getting off to a delayed start at Cubs camp, and only just this weekend making his Spring Training debut, it’s extra nice to see him slapping a couple hits already today. He remains the front-runner for regular starts at the Designated Hitter spot, and although you don’t want anything dinging his catching development, it’s most important that he hits the ground running at the plate this year. The Cubs need that bat.
So enjoy a couple slap hits to left that really typify something Ballesteros does really well, getting the barrel out to the ball and lining it at that sweet spot to generate hits:
beautiful start, moisés. pic.twitter.com/BvADV37nO4
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 2, 2026106 mph rocket off the bat of Moises Ballesteros. Scott Kingery thrown out at home though. pic.twitter.com/XTp4HysR7Q
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 2, 2026The power will come in fits and spurts for Moises Ballesteros (it’ll be more of an opportunistic thing, I suspect), but his game is just ripping line drives all over the park. I cannot wait to see him this season.
Just a reminder on how impressive he was last year:
The sample was small in 2025 in the big leagues for Ballesteros, but that’s because the playing time was sporadic. And that, in turn, is part of what makes his ultimate success so impressive. It’s hard enough to be a 21-year-old coming up from Triple-A in a playoff race and trying to hit big league pitching, but Ballesteros had to do it often coming off the bench, or getting a few at bats here and there. Even when Kyle Tucker’s calf injury afforded Ballesteros more playing time in the second half of September, he was still periodically coming off the bench.
That is all to say, for Moises Ballesteros to hit .298/.394/.474/143 wRC+ in the big leagues last year over 66 PAs, it was truly outstanding. He did it with a 13.6% walk rate and an 18.2% strikeout rate (things that tend to stabilize more quickly), and he did it with a contact quality that supported a good chunk of his results, even if the .349 BABIP was probably a touch inflated. Reasons to be optimistic about his future, yes, but also just reasons to point out how helpful he was as a big leaguer already ….
As Counsell said, there isn’t a catching spot for him right now. Not because Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya are such super-duper-stars that you couldn’t possibly justify letting a top prospect play over them, but because, realistically, Ballesteros does not yet project to be good enough behind the plate to overtake either of them in total value. In other words, Ballesteros very well might outhit both of those guys next year, but, especially at the catcher spot, you cannot completely sacrifice the rest of the game just for the bat. Hopefully Ballesteros can continue to develop and learn, and be in a position to catch games (1) if there’s an injury, (2) if you just want to give the other guys a break, and/or (3) longer-term. He’s still so young.
But if the bat is ready – if he’s as good as he showed in limited duty last year – then you have to figure out how to give him a chance to contribute regularly. In the case of a potentially very special offensive player, giving him runway is not about saving money by not signing a free agent. It’s about winning games. There are only so many at bats to go around, and you want as many of them as possible going to your best hitters. Well, simply put, Ballesteros very well might be one of the Cubs’ best few hitters in 2026, and might be better than lots of external options.
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