Particularly after his arrival was delayed by visa issues, I’ll cop to having been concerned that Moises Ballesteros was not going to get enough attention behind the plate this spring. He missed a whole lot of pre-Cactus League time to work with the coaches, the trainers, and the pitching staff, and the bat is potentially so important to the 2026 Cubs offense that I worried the organization would punt on the catching in service of making sure the bat maxed out this year.
Those concerns have been very much allayed, and while I can’t go so far as to say anything has changed in terms of the long-term positional projections for Moises Ballesteros, I am VERY happy he’s getting so much time to work in game action behind the plate.
Ballesteros is making his sixth Spring Training start today, and, outside of his debut ten days ago, every one of them has seen him start at catcher. The Cubs are clearly not messing around with the long-term chance that Ballesteros could develop into at least a part-time catcher (and maybe even contribute occasionally as a third catcher this year). They want him getting as much real game action behind the plate – well, “real” – with big league Cubs on the mound as possible. Again, I am very happy about this, because the value difference between an everyday DH and a half-time DH/half-time catcher is enormous. The only way you’d choose the former over the latter is if (1) the catcher defense/game-calling/etc. was really bad, and (2) he can perform much better as a hitter if that is his sole focus.
The Cubs don’t have to make that decision on Moises Ballesteros yet, even as his bat is clearly ready for the big leagues. Instead, they will try to have their cake and eat it, too, incorporating Ballesteros as the semi-regular designated hitter this year while also trying to find times and opportunities to get him that development work behind the plate (for example, in a bunch of outcomes-don’t-matter Cactus League games).
Had I to speculate, the Cubs are thinking that they’d love not only for Ballesteros to be in a position to be the true third catcher (i.e., taking over half-time duties in the event of an injury) by the second half of this season, and then they’d love if he could be a time-share catcher in 2027 (if Carson Kelly departs in free agency, for example). The longer they can dream on that possibility without hurting their 2026 performance or hurting Ballesteros’s long-term offensive development, then go for it.
For Ballesteros, though, it’s a tall ask. We have to remember, he’s just 22, and he’s being asked to set out on his first full season in the big leagues, hitting the best pitching he’s ever seen, which is now collectively prepared to exploit any potential weaknesses they identified over the offseason. The work needed for him to stay ahead of that offensive curve is substantial. We’ve seen it time and time again in recent years with even top prospects. So throwing “hey, can you also do a ton of side work to keep developing as a catcher” on top is a lot.
But! Here’s where the anonymous praise comes in.
Bruce Levine spoke with a scout outside the Cubs organization who sees not only that Ballesteros is going to be a good big league hitter, but also sees him getting better as a catcher:
.@MLBBruceLevine fills us in on Moises Ballesteros' form at Cubs camp, how much he'll be used and what a rival scout had to say recently. pic.twitter.com/Cr9LVcq7c7
— 104.3 The Score (@thescorechicago) March 10, 2026The idea is that Ballesteros can still be athletic enough to be a good catcher, even at his size (listed at 5’8″, 195 lbs), so long as that size is working for him. In other words, don’t try to have him lose weight just to lose weight; instead, maybe Alejandro Kirk is the comparison, as offered by the scout. The Blue Jays catcher, listed at 5’8″, 245 lbs, has made himself into not only an above-average bat, but an outstanding defensive catcher.
In the meantime, keep on getting Moises Ballesteros as much “free” work behind the plate as possible, and then evaluate his ability to catch at a big league level throughout the year. I still tend to think we’re not going to see him catching regularly in the first half of the season, but I think he may well be getting in some catching work in between games, again, assuming it doesn’t hinder the bat.
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