Imagine Kyle Schwarber and Ichiro Suzuki had a baby boy together. Schwarber birthed him.
That’s Moises Ballesteros.
The Cubs are calling him up with Ian Happ headed to the IL with an oblique.
And with that news, we need an oblique guy in the dugout. Every time I turn around there’s another Cub hitting the IL with oblique issues. It happens half a dozen times a year, every year, for as long as I can remember watching the Cubs and it makes me sick. The first guy to figure out the oblique situation in this organization gets a Nobel prize for science and medicine. Un-fucking-believable these obliques.
With that in mind.
Ian Happ’s bad oblique opens up the door for Moises to DH, which was made obvious when Justin Turner hit 8th on Sunday as the club’s designated hitter. Then we used Carson Kelly (no disrespect) last night and while it’s a cute story, we also have the best young left handed hitter in professional baseball and his name is Moises Ballesteros.
If Happ doesn’t go to IL, then we’re not making this move. If it’s a minor day-to-day injury, we’re not bringing up a DH. We’re battling for a week and reshuffling to Happ at leadoff ASAP.
But it appears the injury is serious enough to give Moises consistent reps at DH and that’s incredible because Moises is awesome and this is happening much sooner than I anticipated.
To be clear…
I said and stand by the statement that Moises Ballesteros is the DH in a playoff series for the 2025 Cubs. I think he hits 5th or 6th depending on righty/lefty match up and I think he’s miles ahead of any other young hitter in the Cubs org including Pete Crow Armstrong. And I think he’s clearly better than Michael Busch this time next year and I think he’s the Cubs DH for the next decade.
Some questions to answer:
- He won’t be catching unless an emergency situation. He’s a DH first and foremost and it would take an injury to see him in the field. Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly will not be impacted outside of them not being in the same lineup again like last night.
- I don’t know who the corresponding 40-man roster move is yet
- I would guess one of the forgettable 28-30 year old relievers to pick from but don’t want to make assumptions about other people’s careers
- You will fall in love with this guy because he’s a menace and a monster and hits lasers all over the field
Overall I like him as a +.300 hitter in MLB which is insane to say these days but I believe it.
I also think he slugs over .500 with 30 homers and potential to be a 40+ homer guy in the middle of the order with limited strikeouts.
Another good comp is like a more aggressive Kyle Tucker
Or Anthony Rizzo with a little more pull side at 21 years old
Or a more upright Mo Vaughn
Or a flatter Carlos Delgado
Or Brian Giles with less foot speed and a longer barrel
I can keep doing this but my point is that he’s an elite left handed hitter that should make an immediate impact for the Cubs and I would guess carve out a clear role on the team by the time Ian Happ comes back.
It’s an aggressive outlook but I haven’t felt this confident about a Cubs player since maybe ever. Even Kris Bryant had holes in his swing that I hated. This guy to me is flawless as a hitting prospect and I’ll hang my hat on that until proven otherwise.
So in that spirit, set your expectations unnaturally high. I think he’s that good.
For more, listen to this week’s Monday Morning Cubs Show: