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This season for the Chicago Cubs is beginning to turn into a bit of a youth movement. The club called up its top pitching prospect Cade Horton on Saturday for his major league debut, and it appears his battery mate will be joining him.
According to Marquee Sports' Bruce Levine, the Cubs are promoting top catching prospect Moises Ballesteros. Left fielder Ian Happ is expected to hit the injured list with an oblique injury, clearing the way for Ballesteros to join the major league roster.
Ballesteros has been a hitting machine at Triple-A Iowa this season, with a .368 batting average to go along with four home runs, seven doubles, 18 RBIs and a .942 OPS. Ballesteros had a minor-league best 19-game hitting streak earlier this season and it was well known that his promotion to the major leagues was going to be sooner rather than later.
Two things to note from Levine's announcing of Ballestero's promotion. The first is that a 40-man roster move will be needed before he can be added to the roster. It is likely that one of Justin Turner or Vidal Brujan will be designated for assignment to clear a roster spot.
The second thing to note is that Levine says it is expected Ballesteros will be in Chicago's starting lineup on Tuesday against Miami Marlins right-hander Valente Bellozo.
It will be interesting to see if Ballesteros will be in the lineup every day until Happ returns from the IL. If so, he will add even more power to a Cubs lineup that already averages 5.68 runs per game, second to only the New York Yankees.
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Andrew Wright is a Newsweek contributor based in Lancaster, South Carolina. His focus is MLB content. Andrew has been with ... Read more