3 Cubs prospects whose stock dramatically rose this season

2. Moises Ballesteros

At just 20 years old, Moises Ballesteros is already considered one of the best hitters in the Cubs system, and he has been in the upper levels of the minor leagues for most of this season. Ballesteros has collected 442 at-bats for Double-A and Triple-A this year, where he has a combined OPS of .833 with 24 doubles and 19 home runs. Although he cooled off slightly at Triple-A, the young catcher still has a respectable wRC+ of 108 through 272 plate appearances with Iowa and garnered enough attention to climb to 41 on the top 100 prospects list.

While his bat is Ballesteros' best tool, it may be his only one. There have been serious complaints about his receiving skills as a catcher and his ability to throw out runners. In Triple-A this year, Ballesteros is throwing out just 15% of base stealers and he is being considered more of a designated hitter these days.

Standing at just 5'7, Ballesteros is probably too short to play first base in the big leagues, which is where catchers usually end up if they aren't good enough to stick behind the dish. Similar to Shaw, there isn't really room at the DH spot in the big leagues right now. Pete Crow-Armstrong has taken over center field, which has shifted Cody Bellinger to right field and Seiya Suzuki to the DH role. This figures to be the same outlook for 2025, assuming Bellinger doesn't opt out of his contract.

Luckily, Ballesteros is young enough to stay in Triple-A for a while to fine-tune his hitting and settle into being a full-time DH. It remains to be seen how long it will take for him to get the big league call-up and whether it will be with the Cubs.