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Cubs News

Arizona Fall League roster headlined by Cubs top hitting prospect

2 weeks agoAndy Martinez

The Arizona Fall League routinely boasts some of the top prospects in baseball.

Moisés Ballesteros will be the latest Cubs prospect to ply his trade in the league.

Ballesteros was one of 8 Cubs prospects who will play for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League that kicks off later next month.

The 20-year-old catcher just wrapped up his minor league season with Triple-A Iowa, where he slashed .284/.342/.459 in 68 games for the I-Cubs. He hit .289 with an .825 OPS across both Double-A and Triple-A this season with 19 home runs and 78 RBI.

[WATCH: Projecting the ceiling of Moisés Ballesteros]

This season was a real breakout campaign for Ballesteros. He hit .299 with Tennessee, garnering a promotion to the highest level of the minor leagues in mid-June. In July, he participated in the Future Skills Showcase during All-Star Game weekend in Texas.

He is the Cubs’ 4th-ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline and the 41st overall-ranked prospect in baseball.

Joining the catcher in the Arizona Fall League are infielder Benjamin Cowles, first baseman Jonathon Long and right-handed pitchers Shane Marshall, Aaron Perry, Vince Reilly and Luis Rujano.

Cowles, 24, was acquired in the Mark Leiter Jr. trade, along with righty reliever Jack Neely. Cowles was hitting .294 with an .848 OPS with Double-A Somerset when he was hit by a pitch on the right wrist that landed him on the IL.

“We really like the profile,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said after the trade deadline. “He’s had really good offensive success in the minor leagues. He’s done everything well – run the bases well, played good defense in the infield. Just had a really good year in Double-A.”

Originally expected to miss the rest of the season, Cowles returned to play 4 games for Tennessee, going 1-for-13. The Arizona Fall League is a perfect opportunity for him to make up for missed at-bats this season.

Long, 22, was the Cubs’ 9th-round pick in 2022. In 46 games with Tennessee, Long hit a whopping .340 with 7 home runs and a .983 OPS. He hit .283 with 17 home runs and an .852 OPS across High-A and Double-A this season.

[MORE: Cubs minor league coverage on the Marquee Sports Network app]

Marshall had a 2.52 ERA in 33 games for Single-A Myrtle Beach, where he racked up 7 saves and 42 strikeouts across 39.1 innings.

Reilly, 23, posted a 3.88 ERA in 53.1 innings across 32 games with Myrtle Beach. He was drafted in the 18th round by the A’s in 2022 and signed as a minor league free agent with the Cubs this past March.

Perry was limited to just 11 games this season across High-A and Tennessee, posting a 4.72 ERA in 34.1 innings. He last appeared in a game on June 30. Rujano, 21, had a 5.40 ERA in 20 games (7 starts) for Myrtle Beach this season.

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