Moisés

Ballesteros

Grissom has been functioning as the Angels’ everyday first baseman and cleanup hitter in recent weeks, he’ll get a well-deserved day off in this one though. Moises Ballesteros will start in his place and will bat in the cleanup spot against Twins’ right-hander Taj Bradley on Thursday evening at Angel Stadium.

All three of Ballesteros’s hits left the bat at over 100 mph. He’s still batting just .195/.242/.283 through 30 games with the Angels, but things might be getting better. He’s struck out just once in his last four games, compared to 30 times in his first 26 games with the team.

Ballesteros has now started four of the last six games at either first base or designated hitter. The Angels are also carrying two other catchers on their roster, so it seems like they will limit how many starts Ballesteros makes behind the dish for the remainder of the season. That has meant Vaughn Grissom has played more third base and Oswald Peraza has shifted to the bench.

What has happened here? Ballesteros’s future as a catcher has been in question forever, but he certainly seemed like a very solid bat coming into 2026 and through the first month of this season. Now, though, he’s hitting .145 and slugging .184 in his last 203 plate appearances. It’s good that he’s still just 22, but he needs to be so, so much better than this to be of use as a catcher or a DH.

The 22-year-old backstop served as the Angels’ designated hitter in this one. He sparked a three-run rally with a leadoff double in the second inning and scored on an RBI knock by Vaughn Grissom. He then added a two-run single in the fourth that increased their lead to 8-2 before scoring on Grissom’s two-run double. It has been a rough year overall at the plate for Ballesteros, slashing .208/.280/.325 with six homers and 25 RBI in 236 plate appearances between the Cubs and Angels.

Ballesteros finds himself behind the plate for the third time in nine contests since being acquired from the Cubs at the trade deadline earlier this month. The 22-year-old former prospect’s clearest path to sustained fantasy relevance involves retaining catcher eligibility, which wasn’t going to happen in Chicago. The change of scenery, and return to catching regularly in Los Angeles, make him an interesting fantasy option looking ahead to next season.

This is Ballesteros’ third straight start since being traded to the Angels and his first behind the dish. It seems like the Angels may give him some chances back there to see if he can catch at all for them in 2027. Him getting enough starts to qualify at catcher next season would be huge for his fantasy value.

He’s batting sixth against the Orioles. The decision to designate Jorge Soler for assignment suggests that the Angels are looking at Ballesteros more as a DH than as a catcher, but we’ll see. GM John Mozeliak said Monday that he’d probably catch one game in the series against Baltimore. It sure would be nice to see him at least get the 12 catching appearances he’d need to reach 20 and lock up eligibility for next year.

Ballesteros got off to a phenomenal start to the year before an extended cold spell earned him a ticket back to the minors by mid-June. The 22-year-old is an interesting hitting prospect and a worthwhile gamble for the Angels as they attempt to figure out their next steps as a franchise.

Moisés Ballesteros and right-hander Mason McGwire are going to the Angels. With his exceptional 33.5 percent strikeout rate, the 28-year-old Zeferjahn has overcome his control issues enough to post a 3.66 ERA in 51 2/3 innings this year. He was occasionally closing for the Angels and could do the same in Chicago, at least until Daniel Palencia returns. He won’t be a free agent until 2030. The Angels will rely more on Sam Bachman and Kirby Yates, though Yates is also an obvious candidate to be traded.