Despite visa delays, Cubs prospect Moises Ballesteros is crushing it this spring, building on last year's impressive debut.
It was a rough start to the offseason for Chicago Cubs prospect Moises Ballesteros.
His arrival at Cubs camp was delayed due to visa issues, and the Cubs slowly brought him along once he showed up at the team’s complex on February 22. That resulted in Ballesteros not appearing in his first Spring Training game until March 1.
Despite his late start this spring, Ballesteros has picked up where he left off in his rookie season. MLB Pipeline’s No. 55 overall prospect is off to a fantastic start at the plate.
He is hitting .357 (5-for-14) with one double, six RBI, and one walk across 15 plate appearances this spring. In those five games, Ballesteros has a solid 20% whiff rate, an average exit velocity of 92.2 mph, an 88.9% zone-contact rate, and an 8.9% swinging-strike rate.
It might only be a small sample size, but seeing Ballesteros hit the ball well is nothing new. The 22-year-old slashed .316/.385/.473 with 13 home runs, 29 doubles, 76 RBI, and five stolen bases across 114 games at Triple-A Iowa last year.
Then, he had a strong start to his Major League career. Ballesteros hit .298 with two home runs, two doubles, 11 RBI, and nine walks in 20 games and seemed to get more comfortable at the plate. The Cubs prospect batted .333 with two home runs in the month of September.
With those Major League reps under his belt, Ballesteros has the potential to really take off for the Cubs in 2026. The 22-year-old just has a knack for hitting.
Here is what MLB Pipeline has written about the Cubs' top prospect:
“Ballesteros has nothing left to prove offensively in the Minors, where he's a career .289/.371/.457 hitter. His sweet left-handed swing and feel for the barrel enable him to make consistent contact to all fields. The final step will be to tone down his aggressiveness so he can improve the quality of his contact, launch balls in the air more regularly and realize his 20-homer potential.”
Ballesteros will begin the 2026 season on the Cubs’ Opening Day roster. He will have a much bigger role on this team than a year ago and could see upward of 350 at-bats this season. The expectation is that the designated hitter will start the majority of games against right-handed pitching.
Given how well Ballesteros has looked at the plate this spring, he has the chance to establish himself as a top National League Rookie of the Year candidate. That’s how much potential the Cubs’ top prospect has in this lineup.