Brennen Davis isn’t the only hot Cubs prospect. In fact, Moises Ballesteros is basically THE hot Cubs prospect of the season so far. And tonight, after two of the Cubs top prospects — Kevin Alcantara (on a double) and Matt Shaw (on a single) — reached base ahead of him, Ballesteros cleared them all with his fifth homer of the season:
Back-to-back hits by Kevin Alcántara and Matt Shaw set up MLB's No. 94 prospect Moises Ballesteros (@Cubs) for his fifth homer of the season for @SmokiesBaseball: pic.twitter.com/xcyR5hkTNJ
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 16, 2024
What a fun season he is having. I can’t wait to see him move up the ladder.
In the mean time, here’s a small part of what we had to say about Ballesteros a week ago, when it became clear that he was having a special season down there in Double-A:
Moises Ballesteros 2024 Campaign
As of today, Moises Ballesteros is 20-years, 6 months, and 1 day old. That makes him the third youngest position player (and fourth youngest overall player) at the entire Double-A level.
And despite that significant age gap, Ballesteros is currently slashing .321/.411/.500 (176 wRC+) over 90 plate appearances, which is the eighth best overall slash line at all of Double-A. As you can see, he’s not a one-trick pony, either. Ballesteros is hitting for average, getting on base, and has shown plenty of in-game power.
But it goes beyond just the triple-slash.
Ballesteros is also walking 12.2% of the time (excellent) while striking out just 14.4% (t-16th lowest). We’ve seen other young Cubs prospects ball out at Double-A before. In fact, Owen Caissie was doing something similarly impressive last year at Double-A when he was also 20 years old. But even he was producing less (144 wRC+) and striking out more than twice as often (31.1 K%).