Moises Ballesteros has a head start on some of these other guys. He had a few different stints in MLB last season, playing in a total of 20 games. The longest stretch was in September when he was called up to take at-bats off the bench while Kyle Tucker was benched due to a right calf strain. 

In that limited time, he performed exceptionally well. He slashed .333/.465/.564 with a .999 OPS, and he also slugged two home runs. Albeit, it was a small sample size of only 46 plate appearances. Still, the production was promising.

Ballesteros was signed by the Cubs as an international free agent in 2021 at just 17 years old. He moved through the Cubs’ minor-league system, and as he progressed, his numbers continuously improved.

He finished with an .812 OPS between Rookie and Low-A in 2022, an .823 OPS in 2023 across three levels, where he finished in Double-A Memphis. Lastly, he finished with an .825 OPS in 2024 between Double-A Memphis and Triple-A Iowa.

In 2025, Ballesteros began in Iowa, and he hit the ground running. In April, he had an unbelievable .420 AVG with a .648 SLG. He walked just as much as he struck out and finished the month with an impressive 1.128 OPS.

On the season, he slashed .316/.385/.473, finishing with a .858 OPS, and he reached No. 60 on Just Baseball’s Top 100 Prospects.

Ballesteros is listed as a catcher, however he likely won’t see much time there with Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya splitting time behind the dish. Last season, he was almost exclusively penciled into the lineup as a DH, where Seiya Suzuki played 102 games. With Tucker gone, Suzuki will likely move primarily to right field, and Ballesteros will need to fill in at DH.

At the very least, Ballesteros and Suzuki may platoon at DH. While Suzuki’s numbers are relatively similar versus righties and lefties, Ballesteros’ are glaringly different. In 2025, he slashed .230/.296/.281 against lefties, compared to .346/.418/.547 against righties.