The Chicago Cubs had a rather quiet 2026 offseason when it comes to the offense, with the addition of Alex Bregman being the lone splashy move. This set up the franchise to bring up catcher Moises Ballesteros and put the young hitter into a role that it appears the backstop simply wasn't ready for. This has been exposed in the first two months of the season, especially against the league's top contenders, with Chicago going 2-4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves.
In the two games that Ballesteros played against the Braves, the backstop was 0/7 and appeared clearly overmatched. This continues a recent theme with only one lone hit in the last 15 at-bats, making it clear that the franchise perhaps counted on Ballesteros too early and simply lacks enough consistent offensive pieces to beat the league's top contenders.
When Chicago is facing lesser talents, they appear dominant and have zero issues finding ways to win. However, the ultimate goal is competing for a World Series, and playing the National League's top two teams in the first months of the season exposed two issues for the franchise. The first is the fact that Ballesteros looks overmatched and could have too much on his plate too soon.
Leading us to look at the second issue facing Chicago and that is a lack of clear offensive producers at the position to lean on. Something that the franchise is going to need to change in the weeks ahead of this year's trade deadline if they hope to go on a deep October run.
The Cubs may be asking too much from Moises Ballesteros too early
Chicago badly needs to consider adding to the position and taking pressure off a player who simply doesn't appear ready for the moment. While last season's results were encouraging and appeared to signal Ballesteros was ready to take the leap, it came in a moment when the franchise was facing far less pressure, and the catcher didn't have the current expectations.
With this in mind, the team really needs to consider turning to the market and adding a piece that would give Ballesteros less pressure and allow the young hitter to perhaps move back down and make the needed improvements.
Chicago's offense is already one of the league's better units, predictably ranking behind the Braves and Dodgers. Two teams that helped expose the Cubs' young hitter as an obvious weakness and a point that Chicago must improve if they hope to give itself a chance against these talented rosters in the 2026 postseason.
| More Cubs News and Rumors |
Add us as a preferred source on Google