Because most of it came in the heat of a playoff race, when the focus is necessarily less about individual player achievement or development, and more about where the Cubs are in the standings, I think I probably didn’t praise Moises Ballesteros enough down the stretch.
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.
With that in mind, I wanted to share some of the quotes this week from Craig Counsell on Moises Ballesteros and on young players like him. I think it’s instructive on how eager Counsell might be to have Ballesteros regularly in the mix offensively, regardless of any other moves the Cubs make.
“We have young players that did contribute in a big way,” Counsell said of 2025 (via The Athletic). “I thought Moisés gave us the offensive production of Tucker essentially in the month of September. Between him and Owen, who was unfortunately hurt for most of that month, those are two important players as we sit right now ….
“[Ballesteros is] at the point where if he can help the major-league team, he’s going to be in the major leagues. There’s not an everyday catching job in the major leagues for him. But as we’re constructed right now, we’ve got room for at-bats, so I would prioritize the major leagues right now. But that could change with roster stuff ….
“It’s a tough league. Even the veteran players can struggle. You see in giving young players opportunities, they’re the guys that are going to improve as the season goes and turn into better players. Then turn into very important players on your club ….
“You have to be patient with those opportunities. You have to create the opportunities for players of that caliber.”
Not everything was about Moises Ballesteros, solely and specifically, but all of this was against the backdrop of his contributions and his value to the 2026 team.
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.
As we sit here today, there’s a just-about-every-day spot available for him at Designated Hitter. That pushes Seiya Suzuki back into right field, where he might wind up anyway, and it could push Owen Caissie back to Triple-A or onto the bench. I don’t particularly love either option for him from a player development standpoint, as he, too, might have a special bat that is ready to face the challenge of big league pitching so he can take another step forward. But I also don’t know that there’s a better way to check all the right boxes for Ballesteros and the overall performance of the 2026 Cubs.
Even in a world where the Cubs add an impact bat at third base, I don’t know that any of it touches on the desire and ability to deploy Ballesteros. Instead, Matt Shaw would move to the bench in a utility role, and the DH/RF dynamic is largely unaffected.
So, then, whatever the front office does, it kinda seems like Craig Counsell is going to be able to get Ballesteros into the lineup almost as often as he wants. And it seems like he wants to do it a lot.
(Very, very slight bonus consideration: because Ballesteros qualifies for the Prospect Promotion Incentive, if he starts with the big league club from the jump and goes on to win Rookie of the Year, the Cubs would pick up an extra draft pick.)
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