Kevin

Alcantara

Alcántara went 1-for-10 at the dish during a 12-game stint with the Cubs. The 23-year-old top prospect heads back to the minors to wait for another opportunity at the highest level.

Alcántara will head back to the minors with Matt Shaw coming off the injured list for Tuesday’s series opener against the Rockies. The 23-year-old top prospect entered Sunday’s series finale against the Giants as a pinch-runner and made a costly baserunning mistake, getting hung up between third base and home plate, which resulted in a double play. He figures to get another shot with the Cubs later this summer based on his impressive power numbers at the Triple-A level this year.

Ballesteros, who is hitting .105 (4-for-38) with one RBI over his last 15 games, sits for the third consecutive contest and fourth time in Chicago’s last five games. Pedro Ramírez gets into the lineup at the hot corner with Alex Bregman taking a turn at DH after Kevin Alcánatara drew back-to-back starts at DH earlier this week.

Lefties are hitting .336/.416/.555 against Kyle Leahy, but the Cubs still couldn’t find any room for the switch-hitting Ramírez today. Michael Conforto is on the bench, too, as the Cubs are starting Moisés Ballesteros at DH rather than give up some defense by having him catch. Ramirez has started two of the Cubs’ nine games since being recalled last week, but that’s still better than Kevin Alcántara; he’s yet to get a start in eight games with the team.

It qualifies as a notable development that the Cubs are sticking with Ballesteros at DH while he continues to scuffle at the dish, instead of giving top prospects like Pedro Ramírez or Kevin Alcántara an opportunity. The 22-year-old slugging backstop is hitting .077 (3-for-39) over his last 15 games. He was outstanding in the first month of the season, but he’s clearly struggling at the dish right now. It feels like only a matter of time before Chicago gives Ramírez or Alcántara a look.

Alcántara is the type of high-variance power hitter who’s easy to dream on developing into an impactful fantasy contributor someday. He’s made a concerted effort to lift and pull the ball this season, resulting in an International League–leading 15 home runs in 41 games. That approach has also come with a hefty 33.3 percent strikeout rate. Alcántara’s contact profile is concerning, but his over-the-fence power is real. The 23-year-old top prospect, who has gotten into 13 games for Chicago over the last two years, is the type of streaky power hitter that is both exhilarating and frustrating to roster in fantasy leagues. He’s worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues.

Alcántara now has eight home runs and a .990 OPS in 77 plate appearances at Triple-A. Of course, he’s also hitting .227 with a 35 percent strikeout rate, so it hasn’t all been excellent. That being said, Alcántara has clearly shown that he has power that will play in any ballpark, and he could hit his way into the Cubs’ lineup if they have any outfield injuries.

There simply isn’t a spot of Alcántara on Chicago’s season-opening roster, even with Seiya Suzuki (knee) heading to the injured list. The 23-year-old prospect offers an intriguing power/speed blend, but he’s been incredibly streaky at the highest level, which has made it tough for him to carve out a permanent role. He could wind up getting another shot if the whole Matt Shaw outfield experiment winds up backfiring.

After singling twice off Merrill Kelly, Alcantara hit a 422-foot homer off Kade Strowd in the eighth. He’s batting .355/.412/.516 in 34 plate appearances after getting off to a slightly late start as he completed his recovery from hernia surgery. If Seiya Suzuki winds up on the IL, there’s the chance he could make the team, but it might still be a long shot even in that case. Maybe he’ll have a better chance in May or June if Matt Shaw, who committed two errors in right today, isn’t working out as a backup outfielder.

Alcántara was a DH today. He’s a little behind after surgery in October to repair a sports hernia, but he should be fine for the start of the regular season. Since he was saddled with a fourth option year over the winter, he’s likely to return to Triple-A Iowa, where he hit .266/.349/.470 with 17 homers last year.