Chicago Cubs Catching Prospect Predicted For Major Role in Next Five Years

The Chicago Cubs are on a mission in 2025. They hold a 26-19 record entering play Saturday, the best in the National League Central, fifth-best in the National League as a whole, and seventh-best in Major League Baseball.

The team had a clear plan in the offseason to go all-in for 2025, and for the most part, their offseason acquisitions have performed as hoped through the first quarter of the season. But while most of the focus is on the 2025 campaign, that does not mean a fleeting glance can be taken toward the future.

How the Cubs will look in 2030 is a mystery. But, if the team holds on to their rookie catcher, Moises Ballesteros, him living up to the hype surrounding him would have the team in good standing for the position.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently penned as much in an article predicting who the top catchers in MLB would be in five years. Chicago's rookie ranked 14th.

Cubs Rookie Catcher Moises Ballesteros Predicted to be 14th-Best At Position in 2030

"With a 5'8", 215-pound frame reminiscent of Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk," writes Miller, "Ballesteros might not look the part of an elite offensive player, but he raked to the tune of a .289/.354/.471 line with 24 doubles, 19 home runs and 78 RBI in 124 games last year. An even more impressive .368/.420/.522 showing over 150 plate appearances back at Triple-A to open the 2025 season earned him his first big league promotion, and he looks like the offensive-minded catcher of the future on the North Side."

After signing as an international free agent with the Cubs in 2021, Ballesteros has torn through the minor leagues. The 21-year-old has batted .288/.371/.459 across five minor league seasons in six different levels with 50 home runs and 218 RBI across 1,578 plate appearances in 386 games.

His recent call up led to his Major League debut on May 13, and in two games at the highest level he has gone 1-for-8 so far with a walk and two RBI. All of his playing time in MLB to this point has come as a designated hitter.

The expectations surrounding Ballesteros are high, but he has lived up to them every step of the way throughout his professional career. If he can continue to do that at the Major League level, the future is bright for the young catcher and the state of the position in Chicago.