May 13: The Cubs have formally selected Ballesteros’ contract, per a team announcement. Happ heads to the 10-day IL, as expected, while a 40-man roster spot was freed up by transferring righty Tyson Miller from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Miller has been out all season due to a hip impingement.
May 12: The Cubs intend to promote catching prospect Moisés Ballesteros for tomorrow’s game against the Marlins, reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. Ian Happ is headed to the 10-day injured list, Levine adds. Happ has missed the past three games with oblique discomfort. Ballesteros is not on the 40-man roster, so the Cubs will need to make another move in that regard.
Ballesteros, 21, is one of the top young offensive players in the minors. He’s a career .288/.371/.459 hitter over five professional seasons. His production has remained remarkably consistent as he has climbed the ladder. Ballesteros has posted an OPS above .800 at each stop. That includes a ..311/.368/.477 slash for Triple-A Iowa over the past two seasons.
The lefty-hitting Ballesteros has been on fire to begin this year. He’s out to a .368/.420/.522 start over his first 34 Triple-A contests. He has connected on four homers, seven doubles and one triple while limiting his strikeout rate to a minuscule 10.7% clip. Among hitters with 100+ plate appearances, he’s second in the International League in batting average and ranks among the top 11 hitters in both on-base percentage and slugging. He’s seventh in the league in OPS, and every other player in the top 10 is at least 24 years old.
Unsurprisingly, Ballesteros’ bat has always been his calling card on scouting reports. He was viewed as an advanced hitter when he signed for $1.5MM out of Venezuela during the 2021 amateur signing period. He climbed towards the top of an excellent Chicago farm system as he continued to prove himself against higher-level pitching.
Ballesteros ranked among the league’s Top 100 prospects on offseason lists from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, Keith Law of The Athletic and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs had him outside his offseason Top 100 but ranked him sixth in the Cubs’ system in December. He is up to 37th overall on BA’s in-season update.
The reports are quite similar across the board. He’s praised for his well-rounded offensive ability but faces questions about his defensive fit. Ballesteros is listed at 5’8″ and has a heavyset build (though he’s reportedly slimmed down a bit in recent years). He’s drawn comparisons to Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk as a result. Kirk has developed into a solid defensive catcher but faced questions about his glove as a prospect. There are perhaps even greater concerns about Ballesteros’ receiving acumen and ability to control the running game. Opponents have gone 27-31 in stolen base attempts in his 191 1/3 innings as a catcher this season.
It’s unlikely that he’ll get much work behind the dish in the short term. Carson Kelly has obliterated opponents to a .303/.443/.671 slash over his first 25 games. Miguel Amaya has an impressive .286/.309/.506 line over 22 contests. They’ve been the National League’s most productive catching tandem. Ballesteros can occasionally spell Michael Busch at first base, but his clearest path to at-bats would come as a designated hitter. Seiya Suzuki has drawn into left field while Happ has been day-to-day. Suzuki should play left regularly for the extent of Happ’s IL stint.
Happ has been out to a typically productive start at the top of Craig Counsell’s batting order. He owns a .269/.364/.381 line through 187 plate appearances. His power numbers are a bit lighter than usual, but the on-base mark would be the best of his career. He’d been amidst an 0-14 skid leading up the injury but had collected hits in seven straight games before that. His IL stint can be backdated to May 10, meaning he’ll be eligible to return next week.
It remains to be seen if Ballesteros will stick with the big league club once Happ is healthy. He’s past the point where he can accrue a full year of service time through the traditional means, though he meets the prospect criteria to potentially earn a bonus service year via the Prospect Promotion Incentive. He’d get a full service year if he finishes top two in Rookie of the Year voting. The Cubs would not receive an extra draft choice in that instance because they didn’t promote him early enough in the season. If this is a permanent promotion, Ballesteros would be well-positioned to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2027-28 offseason even if he doesn’t earn the full service year.
Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images.
happ is a bum
Why do you say that? Please enlighten because if it’s just based on his gameplay, can’t say I agree lol
Just ignore them. When they make comments like that and don’t provide any context whatsoever they’re just trolls looking to rattle feathers.
Top ten pick who has grossly underachieved, never once hit .300, 30 home runs or drove in 100 RBI’s. He’s so anti clutch, if you want a meaningless home run in a blow out loss, he’s your guy. He’s also failed at two other highly important defensive positions. If it was any other contender he’d be a fourth outfielder at best. Did I enlighten you enough?
Enough to see that you’re a cherry picking ‘hater’
Happy is a complicated case. b-liv’s characterization of him is certainly unfair, but some of the positive evaluations are probably too kind. He is a decent first-string outfielder, maybe better than decent. But he is not a star, and overall he has not been clutch. His defense has improved over the last couple of years, and the gold gloves are deserved….He is more a clubhouse lawyer than a clubhouse leader. Mixed bag.
That’s a great take b-liv—-it only takes a few clicks to see that in his career in high leverage situations his OBP is .824. In low leverage .775.
In appearances when the score is greater than a four run difference is OBP is .729. In any scenario that the game is between one and four runs his OBP is over .800.
There’s a few cherry picked actual stats for you.
But you did make me look to make sure we have been watching different players.
Of the players taken in the first round that year, he’s been the fifth best player (behind Bregman, Swanson, Tucker–each taken before him in the draft; and then Austin Riley)
Happ is a top-7 LF. Hoyer’s MO for position players has been (other than Tucker) to get a top-7 guy at every position. Right now, he’s mostly succeeded: Busch is probably only top-half right now, and 3B is still a black hole. But over the last three years he’s upgraded CF, SS, and C.
One issue with Happ is that even though he is a switch hitter, he often has a platoon split with a drop off against LH pitching. But they really don’t have someone to hit leadoff against LH starters, so Happ stays there.
But can Ballesteros Close? Hmmmm
Most top-10 picks don’t hit 30 bombs or drive in 100.
Miller has been pitching in Iowa and doing rather well. Again Hmmmmm……..
Miller had an injury setback the other night. And the 60-day placement only pushes it back a couple of weeks.
The report on Saturday said that he had suffered an injury setback and last night on the game T-Mac didn’t give a rosy update. Figuring if he’s down a month again and needs ramp up time—you are realistically looking at the all star break now.
That’s definitely a take.
But I’ll take the Pittsburgh area native OVER your opinion any day of the week.
What a tool.
Yeah, who wants a 3x gold glove OBP machine veteran clubhouse leader?
Especially against the NL Central. More specifically while in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. He was a sad man when Wainwright retired. He had like 10 career homeruns off him. Including 2 in one game in the London series in 2023 I believe it was.
Now go look at his strike outs. Far too high for my liking. And to Alan’s point, clubhouse lawyer is a great way of phrasing it. Is happ good, sure for what he does, great? Far from it. Kyle Tucker is what everyone THINKS happ is. I’d gladly take back Kyle Schwarber for $7 mil a year with a .200ish Avg and 40 HR’s and a 100 RBI’s over happ. Just never thought he’s as great as lot of others do. He puts up stats for the baseball nerds and is a stat padder, see Matthew Stafford, great in garage time but doesn’t come through when it matters.
I’d take Schwarber too… at the plate.
Happ is decent, not superstar of course. Underrated in some cases. So far this year he has a the lowest K rate of his career (<20%) though still early. His BB rate is always high.
b-liv,
Ks don’t matter much (despite what your liking is), especially for a leadoff hitter with no one in front of him the first AB of the game. He gets on base at a strong rate, which matters more than K rate. Also, leadoff hitters don’t often reach 30 HR or 100 RBI.
b-liv312
=====================
Nothing you said is meaningful. He has a 116 OPS+ for his career, plus multiple GGs. That makes him a good, maybe very good, player.
Ballesteros will DH and Suzuki to LF? Tucker RF and PCA CF.
Sounds like fun. Ballesteros is the best bat tool in the minors, bar none.
Absolutely. Lefty hitting Moises Ballesteros will be the primary DH versus RHP. He could also give Michael Busch an occasional day off at 1B. He’d be the Cubs emergency catcher behind Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly who are not only superior defensively but have provided excellent offensive production thus far.
He hasn’t really played 1B, I highly doubt they have him do it in the show. If he hits, this is the precursor to DFA’ing Turner or maybe that’s the 40man spot he’ll be taking.
I’m not sure how great teams feel about a 5’ 8’’ 1B. Personally speaking, I view 5’ 10’’ as the low end for the position.
Hmmm. A short, fat, defensively challenged catcher playing first base?
I’d say that’s a comedy idea that could be popular in the Southside of Chicago
Put him in heels and call it a day
Clearly at 5’8″, 1B doesn’t appear to be an ideal alternate position for Ballesteros. That said and aside from catcher, it is the only fielding position the Cubs have utilized him at during his five year professional career. The organization is doing its due diligence in getting him as much playing time behind the plate to gauge his defensive acumen but being a full time DH is likely his calling card to MLB stardom. 🙂
What happens if he comes out and hits .350 when everyone is healthy?
Fun Facts:
According to official data from Stathead, the average height of an MLB player is 6 feet 1.58 inches (186.9 centimeters) for the 2025 season.
The median height of all MLB players is 6’2″ (187.96 centimeters). As a reminder, the median is the middle value in a data set.
On average, pitchers are the tallest position in baseball today at 6 feet 2.5 inches (189.24 centimeters).
Pitching is the only position that averages taller heights than the 6 feet 1.58 inches (186.9 centimeters) norm for a 2025 MLB player.
jokermag.com/average-height-mlb-players/#average-h…
Aaron
Then Cubs can trade Seiya to Padres for Adam or Suarez, in order of preference
Its a fun problem to have
Suzuki has a no trade clause.
Fun! Future DH in 2026. Maybe a spot start at catcher, but it will be like Schwarber catching.
Fun fact: Before he tore his ACL at the start of 2016, Schwarbs was going to be Jason Hammel’s personal catcher.
I was a little surprised they didn’t call up Owen Caissie OFer down usually he’s replaced by another OFer. I’m stoked either way.
Cassie is hitting for power but not for average at AAA. so far this year
A bit more time and hopefully we’ll see him in the big leagues soon.
Strike out rate is hamstringing him
CFS77 and b-liv,
Happ has an 18.7% strikeout rate, which is better than average, so I don’t see how it’s “hamstringsing him” oe are “far too high.”
gbs42, I believe they are referring to Cassie who has a 41.7% strikeout rate at AAA
Thanks, Witty, that makes sense for CFS77’s comment. b-liv was complaining Happ strikes out too much.
No one quite wants to say it, but it seems like Caissie and Alcantara both are washing out–AAAA players, or maybe just AAA players. Hoyer should have traded them a year or so ago, when they were more highly thought of by rivals GMs. We all sometimes forget that prospects are only prospects.
Alan,
Two 22-year-old players are washing out? Maybe more patience is required before making such a judgment.
Regarding Caissie. You are on the wrong track
Mo Baller getting his shot!! Hopefully he takes and they DFA Turner so he be the DH on the regular
I hope he does well enough where makes a statement and forces himself in the lineup even when Happ returns
in the EVERYDAY lineup?? Where??
Cubs could probably get him 3-4 starts a week by playing Suzuki in the corner OF slots, resting Suzuki, & Ballestros at 1B occasionally.
Long term would be interesting. It makes it even more unlikely that Tucker is signed. Happ & Suzuki have no trade clauses, and Mo-B isn’t likely an everyday 1B. And I don’t see Ricketts paying a half billion if there’s a ready replacement.
It makes zero sense to bring the kid up and sit him. If he’s here he should be the DH every day until Happ comes back. If not leave him be.
Turner has had some bad luck and I doubt they want to swallow the money
Might be Vidal Brujan. He’s done less than Turner.
Highly unlikely it’s Turner or Brujan. That would necessitate another promotion from Iowa. Ballesteros is taking Happ’s spot on the 26 man, not replacing Turner or Brujan.
Since there doesn’t seem to be 60 day IL guy staring at us out there—-it’s going to be someone like Ethan Roberts who has the highest chance of going unclaimed and being able to be stashed in the minors. (and if he gets claimed/traded for/etc it’s fairly insignifcant).
Turner or Brujan is possible. Could be Shaw is ready to come up. Haven’t been following too closely on his progress of fixing the flaws that should have been addressed in ST. Let the kids play.
They can DFA Brujan, promote both Shaw and Ballestros.
PCA CF
Turner RF
Suzuki LF
Busch 1B
Swanson SS
Horner 2B
Ballestros DH
Amaya/Kelly C
Shaw 3B
They need to get both adjusted
40 year old turner, a former 3rd baseman who nowadays really only plays 1st and DH, at RF???
He would be a worse defender in right than nick castellanos or kyle schwarber
I’ll be surprised if it isn’t Brujan who gets dfa’d.
Cant argue that Brujan is a likely candidate, but he does provide defensive depth that Ballesteros cannot. Brujan is insurance at several INF/OF positions. Turner makes more sense to me, but they may value his presence in the clubhouse. I agree w Mike that it will probably be a pitcher like Roberts, unless there’s a phantom IL trip forthcoming for someone like JT.
Unless it’s a 60 day phantom trip, that’s not gonna clear a 40 man spot.
If not Roberts, maybe Pearson or Neely.
There’s always Lopez that could get DFA’d too.
Well—there’s the 60 day guy…..T_Mac called the injury last night a setback…..
For the love of God please let it be Justin Turner who is DFA’d.
Congrats. Best player in AAA right now and only 21 years old. Let the youngsters play.
Best “player” is a bold claim. He’s certainly one of the top hitters though and this offense could use a boost. Tucker, Seiya, and Busch have all cooled significantly- as expected. And Kelly is starting to come back down to Earth. Glad to see Dansby getting hot but the Cubs need more offense right now, especially w their suspect pitching. Relying on Horton, Brown and Rea as starters is concerning and the bullpen looks like a mess right now.
If only SEVE could see him now !!
F yeah, Ballesteros to DH, that’s a spark the offense can use right now.
boy the cubs really clogged the bottom third of their roster with useless veterans for no reason.
Do you think the roster was handled as it was, is because they felt a few of these minor leaguers would likely be able to contribute this year? I doubt you did, blah blah blah!!!
Blastosaurus is ready to rock.
Gonna be a stud without a position.
Like schwarber was?
Hopefully this Moises doesn’t pee on his hands.
Why not, it didn’t do that Moises any harm.
Unless, he sees a Bartman
Can Moises drive & putt like Sevvy?
Go get em Bally!!
I know he’s never played 3B professionally, but to me that makes more sense than him playing some 1B at 5’8″.
Maybe when he gets sent down they can give him some time at the hot corner.
But not a pitcher. Pitching wins championships.
Things tend to take care of themselves. But it will be a challenge after Happ returns. The Cubs win games when he leads off more than they lose.
PCA has too much swing and miss. You would rather have him hitting 6 where he can drive in runs and start up some late inning rallys.
Ballestros is pretty limited. That is why he is not a top 25 prospect. If he had a plus glove at catcher you could argue top 10 with the hit tool and the positional value
Happy has never really received any credit. Wonder how many teams would be interested for this unappreciated bum if cubs were to put him up for trade. I’d say close to the 29 others.
Report is Happ will return for the Miami away series. So this is a cup of coffee for Ballestros. Which is fine. Not enough data for teams to get a book on him with 5 games.
I am expecting Tyson Miller DFA soon
At least 6 games if Happ comes back with the minimum of 10 days? 2 against Miami at home, 3 against the Sox and the opening game in Miami. Then they might want to rest Suzuki/Tucker for a game as well so might get a couple more before going back to AAA.
In regards to depth at major league level what happens if a Suzuki pca or Tucker go down now?
They’ve got Alcantra and Cassie in AAA. and Brujan can play OF. I think Berti in a pinch.
DH written on his forehead
“DH better than big baby Devers”… in small print
I would trade Ballestroes, Shaw and Wiggins for Devers in a heartbeat. You want stable production not learning curves.
Let Boston finish up the development. I would take the drama and give him 3B.
Nick Deeds said there were “no obvious 60-day IL candidates” so the Cubs would have to DFA someone. Oops.
Heard that Busch taking grounders at 3rd and bAllesteros at 1st Hope that doesn’t happen
BAllesteros looks to be a permanent dh if he sticks.
It was not something that I thought of.
Ballestroes has to prove that he can hit MLB pitching first. Right now he is just a LH hitting Shaw. Not proven and by no means a finished product.
These ideas are fine in ST. Get some work in to see options. Not in the regular season.
Welcome to the Bigs, Byeeeee-ess-stair-ossss!
The real question is, how long does Kyle Tucker have to look like Jason Heyward at his worst up there, before idiots like Alex Cohen stop pompously lecturing us that “he’s been every bit as advertised–and more!”
Jon Sciambi is smarter. He’s not saying anything.
Some of you roasted me before the season for saying that Tucker actually is about as good as Cody Bellinger. And you were right, I was wrong about that. Bellinger is better.
You must be ignorant. Every player goes through a slump. That is why you judge at the end of a season vs toss the baby out with the bathwater
Troll be trolling
How did bAllesteros do last night?
4 ground balls. He makes contact. But he is not facing pop League pitching anymore
Cubs should have lost series to marlins- shameful