It remains the case that, if Moises Ballesteros is going to make a significant impact on the 2026 Chicago Cubs out of the gate, it’s going to have to come from his bat. Not only is that where his most meaningful potential lives, but the Cubs are undoubtedly quite happy with their two primary catchers, Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya. Those are the guys the Cubs will want behind the plate most days, and justifiably so. The current guess would have Ballesteros possibly being used sparingly as an emergency third catcher, or maybe once every other week when the circumstances fit just right.
That said, no one will argue that there isn’t hope that someday Ballesteros can be successful part-time behind the plate. There have always been questions about whether he could stick there physically, but there is no question that he’s most valuable to the Cubs long-term if he can. The problem is that his bat was always so advanced that it pushed his development well past where he would be if the focus were on his catching. So he and the Cubs will try to have their cake and eat it to, getting big league value out of his bat ASAP while also figuring out how to bring him along defensively as a catcher. That’ll mean plenty of time behind the plate this spring, but we’ll see what it looks like when the regular season begins.
Of course, if he’s out there looking like he did yesterday, maybe Edward Cabrera will ask for Moises Ballesteros to be his personal catcher. Ballesteros nabbed Cabrera three extra strikes on ABS challenges, and also seemed to be receiving the especially nasty pitcher well.
For his part, Ballesteros is clearly continuing to put in the work behind the plate, and wants to show he can do the job when needed:
Cubs Moises Ballesteros on people questioning his conditioning. “ It motivates me to prove people wrong, To prove that I am a good catcher and not just a hitter.”
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) March 4, 2026Like I said, as a practical matter, there aren’t going to be too many starts available behind the plate for Moises Ballesteros so long as Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya are healthy.
It’s still very TBD what would happen in the event of an injury to one of those two (my gut says Christian Bethancourt – assuming he stuck at Iowa – would come up to be the true back-up, but maybe Ballesteros would get an extra start or so each couple weeks), but obviously the dream scenario is that, by the second half, everyone has enough confidence in Ballesteros behind the plate that if such an injury happened in June or later, the Cubs could just lean on Ballesteros to catch a couple days per week.
That, in turn, would signal the possibility that Ballesteros could be a true part-time catcher in 2027 and beyond (Kelly is a free agent after this season).
For now, I’m just glad to see how much work Ballesteros is getting behind the plate this spring. Clearly nobody is folding the tent on him contributing a little back there this season, and certainly no one is shutting the long-term door. Just have to figure out how to get him that development time this year, while also hopefully watching him rake as the primary DH.
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