Coming into the 2026 fantasy baseball season, you might have thought that Alex Bregman, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, or Pete Crow-Armstrong would have been the Chicago Cubs’ best offensive player. A case could have been made for Michael Busch or even a long shot on Dansby Swanson. A player who would not have been on anyone’s lips is Moisés Ballesteros.
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But he just might be the Cubs’ best player through four and a half weeks. Coming into the Cubs’ game on Monday night against the Padres, Ballesteros led the Cubs in average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, wOBA, and wRC+. He had four home runs and 12 RBI in just 65 plate appearances and then proceeded to blast a grand slam, raising his numbers to five homers and 16 runs driven in.
To say Moisés Ballesteros has stepped up his game in 2026 (as a 22-year-old) is an understatement. Let’s look at how Ballesteros has taken his game to a different level entirely this season.
The Moisés Ballesteros Breakout
Just 22 years old (although in his sixth professional season), the Chicago Cubs designated hitter is already breaking out. How is someone so young, with fewer than 50 MLB games under his belt, hitting so well? Let’s dive in and look at baseball’s most unheralded offensive stars.
Moisés Ballesteros Has Elevated His Contact This Season
Through his first 65 plate appearances heading into his big game on Monday night, Ballesteros has a wOBA of .486. If Ballesteros had enough plate appearances to qualify, that would be third-best in MLB behind only Yordan Alvarez and Ben Rice. As you might expect, that is in the top 1% of all hitters. It’s also a massive jump from his .374 wOBA as a rookie last season.
Moisés Ballesteros crushes a GRAND SLAM 😳 pic.twitter.com/UNX1qOHT0a
— MLB (@MLB) April 28, 2026
Ballesteros’ average exit velocity, max exit velocity, and hard-hit rate are consistent with his numbers from last year and in the minors. Where he is outpacing his past numbers is with a career-best 57.4% hard-hit rate and a 12.8% barrel rate.
One other massive change is how Ballesteros has severely limited his ground balls and is putting the ball in the air much more often. So far, 36.3% of his batted balls have been fly balls, compared to just 20% in his Major League stint in 2025. Why is this important? Because pulled balls in the air are the best type of batted ball for home runs, Ballesteros is excelling in that department.
In 2025, Ballesteros also hit ground balls 62% of the time. That number has drastically dropped to 38.3% in 2026 as Ballesteros has lofted his swing and put more power behind it.
At 22 years old, these are great signs for a hitter who is surely still growing, still maturing, and still has things he wants to improve. Strong batted ball metrics and putting the ball in the air have gone a long way so far this season.
Ballesteros is Also Showing Growth In His Plate Discipline
Ballesteros came into MLB with a reputation for low strikeout rates and high walk rates. In 2026, that is now clearly evident in his profile, and it’s helping everywhere. He isn’t simply producing better contact quality when at the plate; he’s also making better decisions as he evaluates each pitch.
Moisés Ballesteros’ rankings among Rookies:
AVG: .392 (1st)
OBP: .439 (1st)
SLG: .647 (1st)
wOBA: .469 (1st)
WRC+: 201 (1st)
OPS: 1.086 (1st)
Avg EV: 93.2 MPH (1st in NL)
Hard-Hit%: 57.1% (1st in NL)— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) April 24, 2026
His swing rate is up, his contact rate is up, his zone contact rate is up, and he has lowered his called plus swinging strike rate from last season. This is growth in action, my friends, and it’s getting to a point where the Cubs won’t be able to keep him out of the lineup.
His walk rate is an extremely strong 9.5%, which is actually low for him, considering he was always above 10% in the minors. In fact, he’s had a walk rate of at least 10% in eight different stops in the minors. But his strikeout rate is staying at an elite level as well. He is at 18.5% for the season, and his career number is 18.3%.
Moises Ballesteros Is Having a Legitimate Breakout
Add up all of this under-the-hood production, and it has led to a very strong stat line to start the season. Ballesteros is hitting .397 with five home runs, 16 RBI, and 11 runs. As impressive as that sounds, it gets even better.
Ballesteros is ninth in the league in hard-hit rate. And he is better than the 80th percentile in expected batting average, expected slugging percentage, and expected wOBA. This breakout, while with a little luck attached, is for real, and Ballesteros is still maturing.
Put everything together, and it’s easy to see how Ballesteros has put together such a strong season so far. Ballesteros is still widely available in many fantasy baseball leagues, but after another strong night with a grand slam, that might not be the case for long.
The Cubs are fighting in a tough division with several good teams. If they are going to come out on top, it will likely be because an undervalued hitter put the offense on his back and carried them for large parts of the season. If he continues to do that, a Rookie of the Year and more hardware may soon follow.
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