Moises Ballesteros is igniting the Cubs' offense. Discover how this young hitter is already dominating Major League pitching with his powerful bat.
Some hitters just have a knack for hitting.
That is certainly the case with Chicago Cubs rookie Moises Ballesteros. Ever since he stepped to the plate for the first time in his MLB career on May 13, 2025, Ballesteros has held his own against Major League pitching.
In his first taste of the big leagues last year, the 22-year-old slashed .298/.394/.474 with two home runs, two doubles, one triple, and 11 RBI across 20 games. Ballesteros also seemed to be more comfortable at the plate later in the year, as he batted .333 with four extra-base hits in 14 September games.
Even though that was a small sample size, it was clear that Ballesteros has what it takes to be a good Major League hitter. The Cubs saw that after just 20 games, which is why they didn’t feel the need to add another big-time hitter in the offseason.
Ballesteros is now showing his full potential in his first full season in the Majors. The 22-year-old continues to see consistent at-bats in the lineup and has been one of the Cubs' best hitters in the early going.
He is batting .294 with two home runs and six RBI in his first 13 games this season. Ballesteros has multiple hits in three of his last five games and is an impressive 7-for-14 at the plate with two homers, one walk, and one strikeout over the last two series.
What’s been most impressive about the rookie’s start to the season has been how hard he’s hitting the ball. He ranks in the 93rd percentile in average exit velocity (93.5 mph) and 95th percentile in hard-hit rate (57.7%).
Ballesteros is simply locked in at the plate right now. He had two singles with an exit velocity over 105 mph in Saturday’s 4-3 loss and almost cleared the bases on a 103 mph lineout that had an expected .490 batting average on Friday.
Ballesteros has easily been the team’s second-best hitter this year, only behind Nico Hoerner. His .294 batting average ranks third, his .471 slugging and .813 OPS ranks second, and his six RBI ranks tied for fourth among all Cubs players.
There is a real chance that Ballesteros is one of Chicago’s best all-around hitters in 2026. His bat speed is up 1.3 mph from last year, and both his barrel rate (19.2%) and expected slugging (.530) rank in the top 12% of the league so far.
His early-season metrics suggest a breakout season could be in store.