Let’s Talk a Little Mo About Ballesteros

Outside of the Oprah-esque 2015 season — You get a promotion! You get a promotion! — the Cubs haven’t historically been super aggressive when it comes to pushing young players up to Chicago. That trend has changed a little bit this season with Matt Shaw serving as the Opening Day third baseman and Cade Horton coming up to face the Mets. Now comes a slightly more surprising advancement, as Moisés Ballesteros is coming up to the bigs.

While his production has been more than good enough to merit a bump, the man known colloquially as Bally or Mo Baller isn’t on the 40-man roster and doesn’t have a firm position. A jack of all trades and master of none, Ballesteros has worked primarily as a catcher during parts of five minor league seasons. Thing is, the Cubs already have two of the best all-around catchers in the league right now. First base might be a possibility if it weren’t for Michael Busch.

That leaves DH, which had been occupied mainly by Seiya Suzuki until a few days ago. When discussing Ballesteros’s path forward a little over a week ago, I wrote that it would take “a very significant injury to the ‘right’ player” to clear the way. Well, that player appears to be Ian Happ, who is being placed on the IL following three games off due to oblique soreness first experienced on Friday against the Mets. I know it’s a shocking development for the Cubs to have intentionally played shorthanded for a number of games prior to putting a player on the shelf, so I’ll give you a moment to compose yourself.

The writing was on the wall when Justin Turner went from DH’ing and batting fifth on Saturday to batting eighth on Sunday and then watching Carson Kelly take the DH reps in Monday’s game. We’ll wait to see whether the designated part applies to the 40-year-old veteran, but we can say for certain that he hasn’t been much of a hitter. So while I love his general presence in the clubhouse and dugout, it’s been apparent for some time now that he can’t occupy even a semi-regular spot in the order.

Through 70 plate appearances, Turner is slashing .155/.271/.155 with a 35 wRC+, no extra-base hits, and -0.4 fWAR. At the risk of being unnecessarily mean to someone who appears to be universally beloved, the Cubs would literally be better off having him never take another plate appearance. I truly hope he’s able to turn things around, even if his decreasing bat speed says otherwise, but the team had to move in a different direction at least until Happ returns.

Enter Ballesteros, the 21-year-old hitting phenom who sits at or near the top of several offensive categories in the International League despite being around five years younger than most of the pitchers he’s faced. An oddly-shaped ballplayer who goes about 5-foot-8 and what might be a very generous 195 pounds, Ballesteros does not look the part of a big leaguer. Hell, he wouldn’t make a high school JV team if coaches evaluated players via police lineup. None of that matters when he’s in the actual lineup, however, as his production speaks for itself.

FanGraphs’ preseason scouting report had him at a 40-grade hit tool with potential to reach 50, but other evaluators have him at a 60 or even 70 already. An all-fields hitter who is equally comfortable pulling the ball or going backside for oppo knocks, Ballesteros has tremendous balance at the plate with a feel for making adjustments in the moment.

A slight reduction in power is the only concern some have noted, as his .154 ISO is nearly 20 points lower than what he generated over 285 Triple-A plate appearances last season. That could change, but we’re probably looking more at a guy who’ll lace doubles to the gaps. The perceived power gap is due to his launch angle dropping from 15.4 to 9.4 degrees between last year and this one at Triple-A. However, his average exit velocity has jumped from 88.7 to 91.5 mph and his max EV went from 109.9 to 111.6 mph. He’s hitting the ball harder on a more consistent basis, he’s just producing a lot more line drives and a few more grounders.

The tradeoff for fewer homers is more total hits, which the Cubs should be happy to accept given how much pop they’re generating already. Time will tell how this works out over time, but everything about his game translates well to what the Cubs need right now. They’re also in the softest portion of their schedule and can better accommodate a call-up. Even with Happ’s loss in the leadoff spot, there’s still enough production that just getting something close to replacement-level hitting from a low spot in the order is more than satisfactory.

While they’re at it, I’d like to see Shaw brought back up to see if the changes he’s made at Iowa translate to better success in MLB. For now, we’ll wait to see how the team clears room for Ballesteros on the 40-man and active rosters. Tyson Miller has been shielded from any procedural moves for a while and is working through a rehab assignment that has lasted nearly a month already, but he could either be DFA’d or placed on the 60-day IL.

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Miller allowed five consecutive batters to reach base on Sunday — two doubles, two singles, and a walk — before exiting when the last of those hits ricocheted off his leg at 106.8 mph. He looked great in his return to the organization last season, but there doesn’t appear to be a spot for him and the Cubs need room for Ballesteros. Vidal Bruján is another option, but it feels like they’d prefer to let that string play out a little longer before snipping it.

More to come as this move is officially announced.