Here are the Cubs' first-half Minor League MVPs
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This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO – The Cubs believed in Moises Ballesteros’ bat when they signed him out of Venezuela as part of their international class ahead of the 2021 season. He has since steadily climbed up the organizational ladder and has the look of Chicago’s catcher of the future.
Looking at the first half of the Minor League season, Ballesteros (Cubs' No. 6 prospect, No. 89 on the Top 100 list) is the easy choice as the MVP of the Cubs’ pipeline so far. He feasted on pitching at Double-A Tennessee, earning a promotion to Triple-A Iowa, where he has continued to post eye-opening numbers.
“What really stands out,” Cubs assistant general manager Jared Banner said, “is he continues to control the strike zone really well and find his barrel very consistently. We've been really impressed with that and his diligence on the defensive side of the ball, continuing to work at the craft of catching.”
The Cubs signed Ballesteros out of Venezuela for $1.2 million ahead of the 2021 season and named him the ‘23 recipient of the Buck O’Neil Minor League Player of the Year Award. Ballesteros soared through three levels last year, hitting .285 with an .823 OPS while topping out at Double-A.
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Through 66 games this season, Ballesteros has turned in a .311/.378/.506 slash line with 10 homers, 14 doubles and 46 RBIs, along with a 15.7% strikeout rate and a 9.4% walk rate. Since hitting .299 with an .867 OPS in 56 games at Double-A, the 20-year-old catcher has hit .366 with a .970 OPS in 10 games for Triple-A Iowa.
Beyond catching 34 games to date, Ballesteros has been cycled through first base (eight games) and the designated hitter role (23 games) by the Cubs to keep his bat in the lineup. At the Triple-A level, he is putting up strong statistics so far while playing at roughly 6 1/2 years younger than the average position player.
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Triple-A Iowa: OF Owen Caissie
Caissie (Cubs' No. 2 prospect, No. 33 on the Top 100) is the pick at Iowa, where he has hit .283/.394/.453 with eight homers, 17 doubles and 45 RBIs through 72 games. The outfielder has posted a 14.6% walk rate against a 27.6% strikeout rate. Caissie is roughly 5 1/2 years younger than the average position player at Triple-A.
“It's awesome to watch what he's doing,” said Jason Kanzler, the Cubs’ director of player development. “He takes his work very seriously. He's years beyond what his age would indicate.”
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High-A South Bend: RHP Sam Armstrong
Armstrong, a 2023 draftee (13th round) currently not ranked by Pipeline, gets the nod as the first-half MVP for South Bend. Righty Nick Dean (2.14 ERA overall) has also excelled, but has split his time between Single-A and High-A this year. Armstrong, 23, has a 3.00 ERA with 57 strikeouts and 18 walks in 57 innings (nine starts and six relief outings) this season.
“He’s a workhorse type,” Kanzler said recently. “I got to sit in on some postgame meetings with him, a pitching coordinator and the pitching coach in South Bend. And to kind of hear how he speaks about his outings, the maturity and thought process is great.”
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Single-A Myrtle Beach: 2B/SS Cristian Hernandez
The 20-year-old Hernandez (Cubs' No. 17 prospect) is enjoying a solid bounce-back campaign after hitting .223 with a .603 OPS in Single-A in ‘23. Through 66 games this season, the middle-infield prospect has hit .273/.399/.408 with four homers, 15 doubles, 30 RBIs, 41 runs, 47 walks and 66 strikeouts. “He's getting to his power more consistently. His defense has been amazing. His baserunning has been much improved,” Banner said. “He's impacting the game in a lot of different ways.”