What position will Ballesteros play long term?

Moisés Ballesteros has developed into one of the best prospects in baseball (MLB No. 53) and top catching prospects (No. 5), in particular, because of his next-level hitting ability.

The 22-year-old has displayed elite bat-to-ball skills since signing for $1.2 million out of Venezuela in 2021 and has continued to thrive at every level since. After producing an OPS of at least .810 from Rookie ball to Triple-A, Ballesteros slashed an impressive .298/.394/.474 in 66 plate appearances in the big leagues this year.

There's no doubt that Ballesteros' bat will play a key role for the Cubs in 2026 and beyond, but it's unclear how and if his glove will factor in. While he's currently stationed behind the plate when he's in the field, Ballesteros is a below-average defender and may not be viable there much longer without hard-to-find reps.

Ballesteros is just 5-foot-8 and thickly built beyond his listed weight of 195 pounds. Although he has soft hands, his limited quickness makes him something of a subpar framer and blocker. During his cup of coffee, he played 18 of his 20 games as designated hitter.

At Triple-A this year, Ballesteros was credited with throwing out just 14 of the 106 attempted base stealers against him (13.2 percent), although three of those were pickoffs by the pitcher with the runner eventually out at second base. Among the 62 Major League catchers with at least 25 stolen-base attempts against them, only four (Jhonny Perada, 11.1 percent; Victor Caratini, 10.9; Liam Hicks, 10.5; Agustín Ramírez, 8.8) had a lower caught-stealing rate.

Ballesteros' under-the-hood numbers give reason for hope. An average pop time to second base of 1.94 seconds would've ranked around 34th out of 84 Major League catchers in 2025, in line with Adley Rutschman, Will Smith and Austin Hedges. His throwing arm is a step below, with a 79.6 mph average mark that would've ranked around 67th -- in line with Carlos Narváez and Jake Rogers.

Still, his substandard receiving tends to hold him back across the board. Being out of position or not catching the ball cleanly contributed to his not attempting a throw on more than a quarter of stolen-base attempts against him (28). He did decrease his pop time and increase his arm speed as the season progressed, but those throws tended to sail right or were too low.

Making more frequent competitive throws and/or improvements in the framing/blocking department will be crucial for his profile. Ballesteros easily projects to hit enough to be an everyday catcher -- a position at which Major Leaguers had a 95 wRC+ in 2025 -- but if he can't stick behind the plate, his only other potential defensive position is first base.

Ballesteros is a tremendous contact hitter, but he doesn't have the traditional power profile of a first baseman or designated hitter -- positions that had a 109 and 110 wRC+ respectively in 2025. At Triple-A, his 90th percentile EV of 105.1 mph was in the 74th percentile, and his 6.3 percent barrels per batted ball event was in the 51st percentile. His frame is already pretty maxed out, so it's unlikely he'll add more power, although he could afford to put the ball in the air more to maximize the thump he does have.

And even then, a fit at first base is dubious at best. Undersized and not overly mobile, he's unlikely to be even an average defender, and the Cubs already have a potential All-Star there in Michael Busch. Notably, there hasn't been a big league regular at first base listed at 5-foot-8 or shorter in nearly a century (Joe Judge, 1930).

The Cubs are in a bit of a conundrum because Ballesteros needs reps at catcher to improve defensively, but it’s hard to justify playing him every day at catcher on a contending team. His bat is also too good to waste away at Triple-A, especially with a need for left-handed bats in the Majors.

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Perhaps if he were on a rebuilding team, Ballesteros might get the runway to develop into a defender who could catch 100 games per year. But in this situation, he seems more likely to spend the majority of his time as a sweet-swinging, 20-homer-per-year DH who occasionally moonlights at catcher and first.