SAN DIEGO — As a rookie on an established Chicago Cubs team, Moisés Ballesteros has drawn notice for his willingness to speak up during advance meetings and share his thoughts, fitting in with a group that possesses a high baseball IQ.
Ballesteros said he does not check his offensive statistics on the huge video boards that are standard features in major-league stadiums. Those screens illuminate his video-game numbers.
Nor does Ballesteros stress about his role as the club’s primary designated hitter, which involves playing regularly, but not every inning, every day.
“I stay in my routine,” Ballesteros said. “I stay focused on the whole game.”
Those responsibilities will continue to expand. Cubs fans who want to see more are getting their wish.
The club is accelerating the catching program for Ballesteros, who received his first start this season behind the plate in Monday night’s 9-7 loss to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. And then, in front of a sellout crowd of 41,478, he showed his flair for hitting by delivering a grand slam.
Moisés Ballesteros crushes a GRAND SLAM 😳 pic.twitter.com/UNX1qOHT0a
— MLB (@MLB) April 28, 2026
The matchup against San Diego right-hander Randy Vásquez was a good draw for Ballesteros, who stepped into the batter’s box with two outs and the bases loaded in the third inning. Ballesteros launched the first pitch 404 feet over the right-field wall and flipped his bat.
On Marquee Sports Network’s broadcast, analyst and former Cubs pitcher Rick Sutcliffe referenced another fan favorite.
“We talked about the comparisons with Kyle Schwarber — that’s Schwarber land where that ball landed.”
Schwarber did not last as a major-league catcher, but the Philadelphia Phillies slugger has a 2016 World Series ring from the Cubs, 349 career home runs and a five-year, $150 million contract.
Ballesteros doesn’t even have 140 major-league plate appearances on his resume yet. Catchers Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya are still viewed as co-starters with solid two-way skills, but manager Craig Counsell wants Ballesteros to gain more experience behind the plate.
“If things happen, it could be more often,” Counsell said. “If things don’t happen, it’ll probably just be occasional. But being prepared — if it had to be more — is part of it.”
In this instance, Counsell wanted Michael Conforto in the lineup against Vásquez, San Diego’s starter, a move that shifted regular left fielder Ian Happ to designated hitter. The Cubs also wanted to pair up Ballesteros with their own starter, Matthew Boyd, a lefty with an excellent pick-off move, as well as the timing and awareness that helps his catcher.
“Matt does such a good job with the running game that it’s maybe one thing we can take off Moisés’ plate,” Counsell said. “Not fully, but partially. And not that he can’t do it. But as we maybe break him in a little more, it’s just one thing we can minimize.”
For someone who had logged only two innings at catcher through the first 28 games of the season, Counsell said Ballesteros has been engaged in the process, catching bullpen sessions, doing throwing drills and participating in meetings.
“He’s been working on it frequently,” Counsell said, “so no surprises from that end.”
None of that equals repetitions in games or replaces the accumulated knowledge from calling pitches, studying swings and gauging hitters’ reactions. For catchers, certain softer skills take more time to develop.
But it’s not like those lessons are going to be learned at Triple-A Iowa. At the age of 22, Ballesteros already looks like one of the club’s best hitters. And some of those traits should be transferable to guiding a pitching staff and building relationships.
At the age of 22, Ballesteros already looks like one of the club’s best hitters. (Denis Poroy / Imagn Images)
“Mo is very instinctual,” Counsell said. “It’s seeing situations. It’s understanding something in our scouting reports that we’re trying to accomplish that he’s able to onboard really fast and use.
“At the same time, we give the players a lot of information. It can be overwhelming in this generation, right? ‘Oh, there’s all this information and then I have to go out and play.’ It can be overwhelming to let your skills come out with all this information. Some young players do struggle with that.
“The instincts allow you to kind of have this filter in your head. The stuff that sticks, you can apply it right away. And the stuff that doesn’t matter for you, you kind of forget it when you’re out on the field. It’s hard to do that, and he does that really well.”
The Cubs did not pitch well in Monday’s loss, and the injuries are catching up to them during what is now a three-game losing streak.
Boyd labored through four innings, allowing five runs in his second start since coming off the injured list, which he said had nothing to do with his catcher: “Bally did a great job. My misses were all on me.” Phil Maton, who was activated off the injured list on Monday to help stabilize the bullpen, gave up two more runs in the seventh inning. The box score also had Ballesteros with a passed ball.
Even growing into a role as a part-time catcher would be a boon for the Cubs and Ballesteros, who’s hitting .387 with five home runs, 16 RBIs and a 1.145 OPS through 69 plate appearances this season. The organization will keep looking at opportunities for a young player with enormously valuable potential.
“Catching in the major leagues, you got a lot of jobs,” Counsell said. “But I’m fully comfortable with him doing it. We’re doing it because we think he can be successful at it.”
