{"id":470944,"date":"2026-02-15T23:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/470944\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T23:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:34:08","slug":"cubs-moises-ballesteros-likely-to-be-delayed-by-visa-issues-for-another-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/470944\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs’ Moises Ballesteros likely to be delayed by visa issues for another week"},"content":{"rendered":"

MESA, Ariz. \u2013 Five days into official workouts for pitchers and catchers, Cubs<\/a> backstops Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros and Christian Bethancourt (a non-roster invitee) were still away from the team, delayed by visa issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not great news,\u201d Counsell said Sunday when asked for an update. \u201cLooking like next weekend at the earliest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bethancourt is a veteran who has shown his adaptability while playing for six different teams, including the Cubs in 2024, in his eight-year major-league career.<\/p>\n

For 22-year-old Ballesteros, however, this was poised to be an important spring training for his development, especially on the defensive side. The Venezuelan catcher is set to miss at least a week and a half of time that would have been spent getting to know the Cubs pitching staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much you can do,\u201d Counsell said Sunday, mentioning phone conversations as one of few ways the Cubs could try to help bridge the gap. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to play this process out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs had been more optimistic when spring training camp officially opened last Wednesday. And right-hander Javier Assad, who was also delayed by visa issues, missed just the first day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s out of our control a little bit,\u201d Counsell said Friday. \u201cWe\u2019re doing everything we can on our end. He\u2019s doing everything on his end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s signing official<\/p>\n

The Cubs made Shelby Miller\u2019s signing<\/a> official on Sunday. He is joining the team on a two-year contract \u2013 worth $2.5 million, a source confirmed \u2013 with a club option for 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year is very much in question, obviously, and it would be fast for this year,\u201d Counsell said of Miller, who underwent offseason elbow surgery. \u201cSo this is about next year primarily. But you\u2019re open to see how the rehab goes and see what happens there.\u201d<\/p>\n

To clear room on the 40-man roster, the Cubs designated infielder Ben Cowles for assignment.<\/p>\n

They opted not to put left-hander Justin Steele, who is targeting May or June for his return from season-ending elbow surgery last April, on the 60-day IL to open a spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing really well,\u201d general manager Carter Hawkins said last week of Steele\u2019s rehab. \u201cWe want to make sure that we have full information for making decisions. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s going to want to get back soon, and we want to honor that, and honor that competitiveness, and make sure that we\u2019re making good decisions on both ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building a foundation with Cabrera<\/p>\n

The Cubs don\u2019t want to rush things with new starting pitcher Edward Cabrera<\/a> after acquiring him from the Marlins this offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the challenge for Eddy is just, new team, really,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cAnd so we want to make sure we get that part of this right. I mean, 10 years and one place, with a lot of the same people \u2026 for the first time, you come to a new place, it\u2019s a hard thing to do. And there\u2019s a lot of new faces, and new ideas being thrown at you. So for [pitching coach Tommy Hottovy] and I, we want to go slow here because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabrera threw in the pitching lab on Friday, and he tossed a bullpen session on Sunday. But the Cubs will be focusing on building a strong foundation with him over the coming weeks rather than pushing a quick ramp-up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MESA, Ariz. \u2013 Five days into official workouts for pitchers and catchers, Cubs backstops Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros and Christian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-470944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}