{"id":54363,"date":"2025-05-10T21:51:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T21:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54363"},"modified":"2025-05-10T21:51:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T21:51:41","slug":"why-cubs-superstar-prospect-made-huge-jump-in-latest-mlb-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54363","title":{"rendered":"Why Cubs Superstar Prospect Made Huge Jump in Latest MLB Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Chicago Cubs have one of the best farm systems in baseball and much of that talent is concentrated at Triple-A Iowa.<\/p>\n

Up until Cade Horton was promoted to the Majors earlier this week, all four of the Cubs\u2019 Top 100 prospects in Baseball America\u2019s May re-rank were at Iowa. Another \u2014 third baseman Matt Shaw \u2014 had already gotten a taste of Chicago.<\/p>\n

The other two are probably going to have to wait a bit longer. But one of them \u2014 catcher Moises Ballesteros \u2014 is rising fast.<\/p>\n

Ballesteros, who is just 21 years old, is entering his fifth year of professional baseball after signing as an international free agent out of Venezuela. Chicago must decide after the season in terms of protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft. But the way he\u2019s playing that almost seems a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n

Ballesteros was one of the fastest risers among Top 100 prospects from preseason to Baseball America\u2019s first reshuffling of the season. He rose 20 spots, from No. 57 to No. 37.<\/p>\n

Why? Well, it\u2019s his bat. Through his first 31 games at Iowa this season he\u2019s slashed .374\/.431\/.545 with four home runs and 18 RBI. It\u2019s a big jump from his slash in 68 games at Iowa last year \u2014 and he hit well. He slashed .281\/.340\/.454 with 10 home runs and 35 RBI.<\/p>\n

Last season was a big one ofr his development. He became a Top 100 prospect for the first time. He played in Triple-A ball for the first time.<\/p>\n

Ballesteros represented the Cubs at the MLB Futures game with Shaw and James Triantos last year, though Ballesteros only participated in the skills challenge. But he was still among the game\u2019s top prospects for a few days during All-Star Weekend in Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n

His plays also earned him notice as the Cubs\u2019 top midseason prospect, as selected by Baseball America. <\/em>He was a rarity at the time\u2014 a 20-year-old everyday player at Triple-A. He also played in the Arizona Fall League last year.<\/p>\n

The Cubs knew they had something when they signed him in 2021 for a $1.2 million bonus. He\u2019s hit well everywhere he\u2019s been professionally. He has slashed .288\/.372\/.460 with 50 home runs and 218 RBI in 383 career minor league games.<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s only a matter of time before he reaches the Majors. He may need an injury to make that happen. Chicago has just two catchers on its 40-man roster \u2014\u00a0Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly. If either were to get hurt, Ballesteros would likely be the first man up.<\/p>\n

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The Chicago Cubs have one of the best farm systems in baseball and much of that talent is concentrated at Triple-A Iowa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":54364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Cubs Superstar Prospect Made Huge Jump in Latest MLB Rankings - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54363\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Cubs Superstar Prospect Made Huge Jump in Latest MLB Rankings - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chicago Cubs have one of the best farm systems in baseball and much of that talent is concentrated at Triple-A Iowa.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54363\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-10T21:51:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/avtvip-39-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54363\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54363\",\"name\":\"Why Cubs Superstar Prospect Made Huge Jump in Latest MLB Rankings - 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