The Cubs Should Promote Moises Ballesteros After the All-Star Break

By: Jacob Zanolla

While the Cubs offense has been strong over the last few games, one clear need is still at the catching position. Jed Hoyer got rid of Yan Gomes a few weeks ago, bringing in Tomas Nido to split the catching duties with Miguel Amaya. Nido has been good defensively, which was expected. Amaya however, has not been so positive on the defensive side of things. He threw out a runner on Friday night, but it was all thanks to Nico Hoerner’s acrobatic skills, and not as much due to Amaya’s wild throwing skills. Amaya did have two hits in the Cubs 5-1 win in St. Louis, but other than that his offense has been literally nonexistent.

There are some trade options, including Elias Diaz and Danny Jansen. However, Moises Ballesteros has been raking in AAA Iowa and seems like a plausible call-up sooner rather than later. When he got promoted to Iowa, the consensus was that he would stay in Iowa until late in the 2024 season, and then probably be included in the September Call-Ups. However, after his hot start after the promotion, calling him up to boost this offense seems like a plausible idea. In 56 games with the AA Club, he posted a .867 OPS and 151 wRC+ with 9 home runs. After being promoted to Iowa, he raised his average to .301, although the slugging numbers have fallen a small amount.

I get not wanting to rush him, that makes sense. However, you can DH him a few days if you would like as well. The catcher position has been absolutely abysmal this year for the Cubs, so even a mediocre start to his major league career would help give more offense to the overall struggling Cubs lineup. The original thought was that his defense would limit him to only being at the DH position, but scouts seem to think he may be passable catching now. Oh, and he was selected to the MLB Futures Game as well, joining Matt Shaw, Owen Caissie (since removed due to injury), and James Triantos!