Moises Ballesteros - Fantasy Baseball Prospects Waiver Wire Stashes (Week 20)

BALLER MOVE: Stash in Deeper Leagues

CALL-UP ETA: August

ANALYSIS: Moises Ballesteros hit 10 home runs in 63 games as an 18-year-old back in 2022, then in 2023 he hit 14 more in 117 games as a 19-year-old. This season, the 20-year-old has belted another 14 between Double-A (nine in 56 games) and Triple-A (five in 31 games), showing that the power is legit, and at such a young age, perhaps there is still more to tap into. Not only that, the diminutive backstop (he stands at five-foot-seven) has shown he can also hit for average, with a career .279 BA in the minors, but performing even better at the higher levels, slashing .292/.357/.483 across both levels in 2024.

Your @GreatClips Clip of the Week is a grand slam off the bat of Moises Ballesteros! pic.twitter.com/4jEGdonY0E

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) July 29, 2024

Ballesteros was one of the highest risers in MLB.com's July prospect re-rank, moving up 28 spots from No. 89 to No. 61 overall. Granted, there are drawbacks in rushing players to majors and bringing them up too soon only to fail which could crush their confidence, but the Cubs have won three in a row and sit just 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, averaging 8.0 runs per game over their last three. If they want to make a push it should be all hands on deck.

Miguel Amaya (.213 BA, .571 OPS) and Christian Bethancourt (.183 BA, .547 OPS) share backstop duties for the Cubs right now with Tomas Nido (.192 BA, .534 OPS) on the IL, but surely Ballesteros can offer at least similar offensive competence along with some upside. Of course, catching isn't necessarily about the offense, you need someone capable of handling a major league pitching staff, but hopefully that is what the Cubs' staff is working on at this very moment at Triple-A Iowa.

So, whether it is underperformance from the current catching crop or an injury that forces their hand, there's a good chance we'll Ballesteros in majors before the season is out. He isn't a must-stash like Junior Caminero or Jasson Dominguez, but for managers in deeper leagues in need of some offensive production from the catcher position, Ballesteros could help out down the stretch when it matters most, so if you have a bench spot available, go ahead and grab the Venezuelan ahead of his eventual call-up.

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