He may not be the savior, but power-hitting prospect Moises Ballesteros is now one step closer to helping the Cubs offensive woes. The 20-year-old catcher has been promoted to Triple-A this week after his impressive showing at the plate with the Tennessee Smokies at Double-A.
Ballesteros, who won’t be 21-years-old until November, posted a 155 wRC+ in 223 plate appearances at Tennessee through 56 games prior to his promotion. The left-handed hitter displayed everything you want in a rising prospect at Double-A, as he slashed .299/.372/.495, while only striking out 14.8% of the time paired with a 9.9 BB%.
I know that it’s hard to get too excited about any prospect and Cubs fans are tired of hearing about the next big thing, but Ballesteros is in rare company with the things he’s accomplished at his age.
Again, he’s only 20-year-old and his 155 wRC+ ranks 8th best among all hitters at Double-A, a league where offense is tough to come by no matter the age.
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You just have to love Ballesteros batting profile. He doesn’t strike out, but it’s not like he sacrifices power either. The left-handed batter crushed 9 home runs, 9 doubles and this past weekend Ballesteros recorded his first triple of the season when he hit for the cycle.
The only big question regarding Ballesteros’ future is whether he’ll stick at catcher or not. Again, only 20-years-old, so he does have time to prove that he can handle time behind the plate. Yet, I’m not going to hold my breath that Ballesteros will turn into a 120-start catcher. At best, I think the Cubs are hoping Ballesteros can play some catcher, while getting the majority of his starts as a designated hitter or first base.
We’re basically talking about what the Cubs hoped Kyle Schwarber would be before his knee injury in 2016 that pretty much ended his catching career. Like Schwarber, maybe the Cubs are hoping that Ballesteros will give the team a boost on offense in the second half of the season.
Back in 2015, Schwarber was called up for a brief stint in June before sticking with the team from the middle of July through the end of the season. Schwarber finished his rookie season with a slash line of .246/.355/.487, before hitting 5 home runs in the postseason.
We’re a ways off from expecting that from Ballesteros, but it sure would be nice if he kept rolling at the plate in Iowa and forced the Cubs to call him up. It might not take much because the Cubs have a dire situation at the catcher position with Miguel Amaya and Yan Gomes currently combining for a -1.3 fWAR, which ranks second worst in MLB.
Amaya is slashing .190/.255/.275, while Gomes is down to a .154/.179/.242 slash line this season.
So yeah, please be good Moises Ballesteros.
