After last night’s grand slam, the Cubs 22-year-old DH, Moises Ballesteros, is up to a truly absurd .387/.435/.710 slash line. That’s offensive production so strong that, despite stepping up to the plate just 69 times (while offering zero defensive or base-running value), Ballesteros’ 0.9 WAR is third-most among all NL Rookies, fifth-most among all rookies, third-most among all DHs, and tied for 33rd-most in all of MLB.
Because of all that, he’s firmly in the running for NL Rookie of the Year. And the only thing that seems to be holding him back is, well, not playing a position.
Except last night, he did.
Last night in San Diego, Moises Ballesteros played the most valuable defensive position in the game, catcher. And just like we saw in the spring, he didn’t look half-bad. As it turns out, that wasn’t just a one-time thing because of Randy Vasquez’s lefty/righty splits (though that was certainly part of the calculus). Instead, it appears to be the start of a process that will see Moises Ballesteros catching more often as the season goes on.
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Moises Ballesteros, Slugger, Catcher
Report via Patrick Mooney at The Athletic:
The club is accelerating the catching program for Ballesteros, who received his first start this season behind the plate in Monday night’s 9-7 loss to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. And then, in front of a sellout crowd of 41,478, he showed his flair for hitting by delivering a grand slam.
….Ballesteros doesn’t even have 140 major-league plate appearances on his resume yet. Catchers Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya are still viewed as co-starters with solid two-way skills, but manager Craig Counsell wants Ballesteros to gain more experience behind the plate.
“If things happen, it could be more often,” Counsell said. “If things don’t happen, it’ll probably just be occasional. But being prepared — if it had to be more — is part of it.”
With two productive big league catchers, the Cubs aren’t just going to move to a three-man catching rotation. That would be silly, especially because, on most days, you’d love to have Moises Ballesteros *and* Carson Kelly’s bat in the lineup. But when there are certain matchups that make sense or when either/both of the catchers could use a breather, Ballesteros could be the answer.
But there’s another catch, too. And it’s a really smart plan by the Cubs.
According to Counsell, via Mooney, the Cubs may save his catching duties for pitchers like Matthew Boyd, who can hold runners on/pick them off better than other pitchers on the team. The thinking there is that it can take one extra thing off Ballesteros’ plate. Smart. I’m not sure who else falls into that category, but we do know that Boyd is particularly good at picking guys off, which also dissuades runners from attempting to steal in the first place.
So last night, then, was sort of the perfect storm – Matthew Boyd on the mound against an opposing starter who is worse against lefties. It won’t always be that clean, and Ballesteros won’t always get 100% of the chances in those circumstances, but you can see the logic.
You do have to wonder what happens if someone gets hurt – Counsell does seem to indicate that Ballesteros could become more of a true catcher – but let’s just not root for that.
If you’re wondering, I was, Counsell says Ballesteros has remained engaged in the catching process throughout the season, catching bullpen sessions, doing drills, and attending those meetings. I suppose that makes sense; you can’t just jump into a position like that on the fly, but it’s good to have it confirmed. It’s also good to know that the side work he’s ALREADY been undertaking hasn’t slowed him down offensively. To be sure, actively catching many more games might wear him down, and that is a risk. But for now, in a part-time capacity, I don’t think you should expect the extra load to ding him more than just regular old regression.
Circling back to the conversation at the top: If Ballesteros does find a way to start catching with some regularity, while still hitting as well as he has been (well … he doesn’t need to be Barry Bonds forever), then his stock in the NL Rookie of the Year race will rise dramatically.
More importantly, it’s going to be very good to know if he can actually be a catcher long term, because Carson Kelly is going to be a free agent at the end of the season. And the difference in value to the team between hitting well as a DH and hitting well as a catcher is enormous. So here’s hoping this goes well!
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