Inside Cubs prospects Kevin Alcántara, Moisés Ballesteros’ inspiring journey to master English
When Kevin Alcántara stepped foot on the blue carpet at the Sheraton Grand Chicago last month at Cubs Convention, he immediately stole the show.
He dazzled with a custom-made suit that had faux jaguar fur on the lapels and flap pockets that were an homage to his nickname. The Cubs outfield prospect, who debuted in the majors last year, also had a sparkling necklace with jaguar scratches across it, another testament to his swagger.
He exuded confidence and shined at an event where the players are the stars.
But it’s not who he’s always been.
Just three-and-a-half years ago, Alcántara was a teenager in a foreign country — alone and with a sense of fear.
It was July 2021 — the Cubs had just traded away a franchise icon, Anthony Rizzo, to the Yankees for the 19-year-old Alcántara and right-handed pitcher Alexander Vizcaino (Vizcaino was put on the restricted list and never appeared in a game for the organization before being released in 2022).
Alcántara had been in the U.S. before — he first appeared Stateside in 2019 with the Yankees’ Complex League affiliate and was there when he was dealt to Chicago. But being a Dominican teenager in Florida wasn’t too tough.
“There were a lot of people that spoke Spanish,” Alcántara said in an exclusive interview in Spanish at Cubs Convention.
Going to Arizona was different. There are Spanish speakers, for sure, but there’s much more of a Dominican presence in Florida than in Arizona. There, he felt on a metaphorical island.
The 6-foot, 6-inch outfielder signed as a 16-year-old with New York for a $1 million signing bonus. Being in a new organization, in a new place with no familiar faces and not knowing the language, he would venture out to eat and was broken mentally.
He would walk into a restaurant and couldn’t do anything. His belly was empty and he couldn’t communicate with the workers to remedy that.
“The difficult thing is when you have money in your pocket and you don’t know what to eat,” Alcántara said. “That’s the tough thing: when you go somewhere and you don’t know how to ask for anything, how to do anything.”
Alcántara took it upon himself as a challenge. No one was going to feel sorry for him or go out of their way to help him. So, he pushed himself out of his comfort zone and began attacking English lessons that the Cubs provided and began communicating more with his American teammates.
[MORE: Listen to Kevin Alcántara showcase his English on the latest edition of the Cubs Weekly Podcast]
It was a similar path that another Cubs prospect, Moisés Ballesteros, took.
“I spent more time with my American teammates than my Latino teammates and that helped me a lot,” Ballesteros said at Cubs Convention. “Before, I was with them, but I didn’t understand what they were saying. Now, thanks to God, after three years, I can understand them and talk to them.”
For Ballesteros, that’s benefited him and allowed him to connect with fans, too.
At Cubs Convention, he was on the “Road to Wrigley” panel with other Cubs top prospects, an English-speaking forum where hosts Elise Menaker and Lance Brozdowski interacted with the players and fans asked them some questions, too.
Moments before the panel began, Ballesteros looked at Cubs interpreter Fredy Quevedo Jr., asking him if he was going to go on stage with him. Quevedo — who wasn’t scheduled to be on stage — gave him a pep talk, ensuring him his English was strong enough, but that he was listening backstage if anything arose. Ballesteros completed the panel in his second language and Quevedo remained backstage, never used.
The most important benefits of learning English, though, have come on the field. For Ballesteros, being a catcher and being able to be on the same page as your pitcher is imperative. As he looks to grow defensively, being able to receive and understand feedback is crucial.
[READ: PECOTA projects Cubs to be one of the best teams in MLB]
At Triple-A last season, when a coach told him something, he didn’t need to run to a phone or look for a bilingual teammate to know what was being said.
“Instead, I could help others and translate to them and explain to them things,” Ballesteros said. “That was a big goal that I had and thanks to God, I have achieved it.”
And for Alcántara, he’s a believer that having learned English has helped him realize his potential and showcase why he was the centerpiece in a trade for an icon like Rizzo.
That’s allowed him to blossom from a scared teenager to a flashy top prospect ready to contribute at the major league level.
“There’s advice that you can’t get because you don’t know English because the American coaches can’t communicate with you because, ‘Hey, if you speak Spanish, why don’t you speak English?’” Alcántara said. “It’s really tough, honestly. It’s a course that you must learn.
“That’s why the majority that know the language have so much success because they can communicate with everyone and can make necessary adjustments quickly.”