{"id":550803,"date":"2026-03-21T08:31:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T08:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/550803\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T08:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T08:31:20","slug":"moises-ballesteros-blasts-are-just-the-start-says-craig-counsell-who-puts-him-on-cubs-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/550803\/","title":{"rendered":"Moises Ballesteros\u2019 blasts are just the start, says Craig Counsell, who puts him on Cubs’ roster"},"content":{"rendered":"

MESA, Ariz. \u2014 Cubs<\/a> manager Craig Counsell marveled at the power. There will be more where that came from, he said.<\/p>\n

The topic was left-handed-hitting catcher Moises Ballesteros\u2019 441- and 423-foot homers against the Angels in a Cactus League game Tuesday at Sloan Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoises has shown more of the same of what he did last year in the short stint with us,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cHe\u2019s a gifted hitter, a natural hitter. I suggested to hitting coaches they stay away from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was said tongue-in-cheek, but there is something to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did have a meeting with the hitting coaches, called them all together at some point this spring and they got a little nervous,\u201d Counsell said. \u201c\u2018You guys should stay away from Ballesteros.\u2019 Joking, you know, but they got the message.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsell had a meeting with Ballesteros on Friday, assuring the 22-year-old he was on the team. He will be the Cubs\u2019 primary designated hitter to start the season. Counsell \u201cgot a tip\u201d that Ballesteros was \u201cunnecessarily nervous\u201d about it, \u201cso I told him immediately before he sat down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMoises has earned that opportunity,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cWhen you have a player who has options, you kind of have to beat down the door to get yourself in the lineup. You almost have to do a little more to get that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

A natural hitter with easy power, Ballesteros pounded on the door with those two bombs in consecutive at-bats against the Angels. He was batting .355 with a 1.007 OPS in 31 Cactus League at-bats with two doubles to go with the home runs entering Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are just some hitters \u2026 he\u2019s so young and he does certain things and he\u2019s going to improve,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cSomeday, Moises will hit a lot of home runs. I don\u2019t think it will be this year, but someday he\u2019ll hit a lot of home runs. When you see balls hit like that, with his hitting gifts, as he gets more experience, learns pitchers and his swing, he\u2019s capable of doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making his debut in 2025, the prized Venezuelan with the 5-8, 215-pound frame batted .298\/.394\/.474 with two homers in his 22-game major-league debut. He made the playoff roster, going 0-for-3 as a pinch hitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I\u2019m working on timing,\u201d Ballesteros told the Sun-Times. \u201cAnd being selective, taking pitches and getting really good ones to hit. And staying healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsell and staffers were impressed with how Ballesteros drove pitches hard to all parts of the field last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe power, the exit velocity indicate that the home runs will come,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThere are a lot of ingredients to like.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s third on the catcher depth chart behind Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly, but \u201cit\u2019s been fun watching him catch,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cMoises is a very instinctual baseball player. He understands the game, a product of probably catching a lot. That\u2019s going to be a strength of his.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ballesteros, who is viewed around the league as a contender for National League Rookie of the Year, said he wants to win above anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always say my goal is always to pass my numbers from last year,\u201d Ballesteros said. \u201cBut I want to stay here until I win two championships. When I played in the playoffs last year, especially with the fans here \u2026 I saw the game differently in that situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to win, and in the playoffs, you play for the team and you play for a winner. You don\u2019t play for yourself. That\u2019s what is really important at this level, and every player in here plays for each other, not for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"ST26-palencia-venezuela-05-m20.jpg\"<\/p>\n

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Palencia proudly wore a Venezuela jersey walking into the Cubs\u2019 clubhouse Friday after the team\u2019s day off.<\/p>\n

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read<\/p>\n

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\"Ray<\/p>\n

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Never mind that the organization once known as baseball\u2019s lovable losers took 108 years to win one in 2016, its first since 1908. These 2026 Cubs can dream big again without being scoffed at.<\/p>\n

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\"Boston<\/p>\n

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I won\u2019t explain HOW to watch the games. You\u2019re smart enough to figure that out. But here\u2019s a guide for WHERE to find them and how many will include the Cubs and White Sox.<\/p>\n

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read<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MESA, Ariz. \u2014 Cubs manager Craig Counsell marveled at the power. There will be more where that came…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-550803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}