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The Cubs have a problem. It's a good problem, but still a problem.

They have a hitter who's just killing it at Triple-A. I'm talking the kind of performance that turns a pretty good prospect into one that everyone obsesses over.

It continued with another two home runs Wednesday, making Moises Ballesteros 22 for 45 (.489) over his past 11 games and giving him a .402 batting average and 1.078 OPS overall. While these are backed up by a 91.3 mph average exit velocity and 111.2 mph max -- both pretty good marks -- it's Ballesteros' hit tool that stands out most of all. He's stuck out just 11 percent of the time at Triple-A Iowa this year and has never struck out even 20 percent of the time across five minor-league seasons. His line-drive and opposite-field rates have always run high, giving him a sturdy foundation for batting average.

But it's the home runs that grab all the headlines. Here's what the second of Wednesday's looked like:

As you can see, Ballesteros is built like a bowling ball, listed at 5-foot-8 and 215 pounds, and that's where the problem comes in. Where does a player of that shape fit on the diamond? He's primarily been a catcher, and if his arm is good enough, that could work, but the big-league roster is already loaded there. Journeyman Carson Kelly has transformed into Mickey Mantle in the early going, batting .370 (17 for 46) with seven homers and a 1.415 OPS, which has relegated Miguel Amaya, another up-and-coming catcher, to the bench more often than the Cubs would like. Clearly, Ballesteros has no immediate path there.

What about first base? In theory, anyone capable of playing catcher should also be capable of playing there, and indeed, Ballesteros has seen some time there every year in the minors. But his 5-foot-8 frame isn't ideal for the position, limiting his ability to stretch for wayward throws. Plus, the Cubs already have Michael Busch there, and he's doing pretty well so far. Why not DH, then? Well, the Cubs already have an overloaded outfield, so freeing up the DH spot would mean sidelining one of Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, and Pete Crow-Armstrong, which isn't going to happen.

As things currently stand, there simply isn't a spot for Ballesteros, and manager Craig Counsell recently confirmed as much:

The creative (and, admittedly, fanciful) solution would be to shift Busch back to third base, where he has ample experience, or even try Ballesteros there, which is the route Pablo Sandoval took developmentally. Matt Shaw's misfire has left the Cubs with so glaring of a hole there that they might be willing to sacrifice some defense to fit in another capable bat.

Then again, Shaw himself has begun to show signs of life at Triple-A, which brings me to my ...

FIVE ON THE VERGE

(Here are the prospects most worth stashing in redraft leagues.)

Bubba Chandler, SP, Pirates

2024 minors: 10-7, 3.08 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 119 2/3 IP, 41 BB, 148 K
2025 minors: 1-0, 1.33 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 20 1/3 IP, 6 BB, 27 K

Like a dachshund before a downpour, sometimes you can just sense these things, and my sense with Chandler is that the sky is about to open. He made it through five innings in his latest start (allowing just one hit, because of course), causing the anticipation to build to a fever pitch. Not a day goes by now without someone asking me when he's getting called up, and apparently, prominent members of the Pirates are wondering the same thing.

"Looking forward to being with him every day, whenever that is," Paul Skenes said Tuesday. "He's going to bring a lot to the staff. I'm fired up to see that. I'm excited."

Of course, just because people are clamoring for it doesn't mean it's about to happen. Just a week ago, GM Ben Cherington was quoted as saying the Pirates will begin to build up Chandler in earnest "once we get into May." We're only now into May, which would imply that the buildup still needs to happen, and indeed, the most pitches that Chandler has thrown in a start so far is 70.

But plans could change, particularly with the amount of attention the situation is beginning to draw. All along, I've been saying the Pirates seem to be building up Chandler on the same schedule as Skenes a year ago, and Skenes ended up debuting on May 11.

Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox

2024 minors: .291 BA (454 AB), 18 HR, 21 SB, .894 OPS, 79 BB, 127 K
2025 minors: .292 BA (89 AB), 5 HR, 2 SB, .962 OPS, 21 BB, 23 K

In the push to get Anthony to the big leagues, fair to say his body hasn't been doing him any favors. A bout with shoulder soreness confined him to the DH spot for a couple weeks in April, and more recently, a bruised foot kept him out of the lineup for a couple days. But he's back at full capacity and still demonstrating massive upside as a hitter, his walks having pulled near even with his strikeouts and his average exit velocity currently residing at an Aaron Judge-like 96.7 mph. The holdup is surely just a matter of opportunity. Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu are locked in at the outfield corners, and Ceddanne Rafaela's defense will earn him a long leash in center. But if you're wondering what the organization is actually saying about it, here it is:

"I think we'd love to see him pull the ball in the air more for a little bit more damage," director of player development Brian Abraham told the Fenway Rundown podcast Tuesday. "He, and even [Marcelo Mayer] at times, hit the ball so hard that when they hit it into the ground, it's really not doing any benefit to anyone. Both of those guys, when they're really attacking the baseball, elevating the baseball for extra bases, for impact, those are the things we're looking for on the offensive side."

To be fair, Anthony's fly-ball rate is only 27.0 percent right now, down from an already low 31.4 percent between two stops last year. Even more notable is that his 32.8 percent pull rate is as low as it's ever been. Ultimately, though, I don't think the spray angle matters all that much given how well he works the count and how hard he hits the ball. If an opening develops on the Red Sox outfield, rest assured Anthony will fill it.

Logan Henderson, SP, Brewers

2024 minors: 7-6, 3.32 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 81 1/3 IP, 15 BB, 104 K
2025 minors: 3-1, 2.70 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 20 IP, 11 BB, 29 K
2025 majors: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

Ten days after his demotion, there's been no movement on the Henderson front. He's since made another start at Triple-A, and it went as well as you could hope for, with him allowing just one hit (albeit a home run) over six innings. We've already seen evidence that his unconventional stuff plays in the majors and that he's able to rise to the moment. Now, it's just a matter of waiting for the next moment. When will that be? Well, the Brewers rotation isn't exactly star-studded. Freddy Peralta is a lock, and probably Jose Quintana as well, but the pitcher with the next-best claim for a spot, Tobias Myers, lasted only two innings against the White Sox Wednesday. Chad Patrick has been OK but isn't giving the Brewers much length. Quinn Priester, meanwhile, just isn't very good.

Long story short, there are a number of scenarios by which Henderson could rejoin the Brewers rotation. My one word of caution is that Brandon Woodruff is likely nearing the end of a rehab assignment for the shoulder surgery that cost him all of last season, and while his stuff hasn't played the same on that rehab assignment, the Brewers will surely give him a look once he's ready.

Jordan Lawlar, SS, Diamondbacks

2024 minors: .318 BA (85 AB), 2 HR, 6 SB, .899 OPS, 14 BB, 23 K
2025 minors: .381 BA (113 AB), 6 HR, 12 SB, 1.160 OPS, 17 BB, 29 K

With each passing week, it's all the more apparent that Lawlar is too good for the minors. His four-hit game Wednesday makes him 24 for 47 (.511) with three homers and eight steals in his past 11 games, but it doesn't change the fact that there's no opening. There had been with second baseman Ketel Marte sidelined by a hamstring injury since April 4, but he's on the verge of returning now. Meanwhile, Geraldo Peromo is entrenched at shortstop after signing a long-term deal in the offseason. Eugenio Suarez, whose time with the Diamondbacks is nearing its natural end, seemed like he might be slumping his way out of the third base job, but then he delivered a historic four-homer game Saturday.

Clearly, nobody's rolling out the red carpet for Lawlar. Would the Diamondbacks consider shifting Corbin Carroll to center field, putting Pavin Smith in right field, and thus opening up the DH spot for an infield rotation that includes Lawlar? That would seem to be his cleanest path to playing time at the moment. It's clearly a long shot, but we're nearing the point where keeping him in the minors is going to frustrate him needlessly. He already got a taste of the majors two years ago, remember.

Matt Shaw, 3B, Cubs

2024 minors: .284 BA (443 AB), 21 HR, 31 SB, .867 OPS, 62 BB, 95 K
2025 minors: .324 BA (34 AB), 1 HR, 3 2B, .952 OPS, 7 BB, 2 K
2025 majors: .172 BA (58 AB), 1 HR, 1 2B, .535 OPS, 10 BB, 18 K

I thought about sticking with Zebby Matthews here but decided there isn't a clear path anymore with David Festa back in the minors. I was tempted to go with Andrew Painter now that he's a few starts into his minor-league buildup, but Dave Dombrowski is still insisting that "July-ish" is his timeline. So I'm back to banging the drum for Shaw, who has begun to heat up at Triple-A with four consecutive multi-hit games. He's gone 10 for 17 during that span with three doubles and a home run.

Of course, as Michael Cerami of Bleacher Nation points out, the contact quality has still been lacking during that time, with only four batted balls meeting the textbook definition of "hard hit" (i.e., 95 mph or more). My response to that, though, is that poor exit velocities were more the symptom of Shaw's major-league struggles than the cause. According to MLB.com, he had "worked over the offseason on starting his swing earlier, anticipating higher velocity in the majors," and given that his swing employs an exaggerated leg kick, you could see how he might have messed up his timing. We'll need to see harder contact from him moving forward, but the multi-hit streak would at least suggest that he's getting his timing down. Things could come together pretty quickly after that.

FIVE ON THE PERIPHERY

(Here are some other prospects doing something of note.)

Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox

2024 minors: .307 BA (300 AB), 8 HR, 13 SB, .850 OPS, 30 BB, 66 K
2025 minors: .270 BA (100 AB), 7 HR, 1 SB, .844 OPS, 8 BB, 22 K

With all the anticipation over Roman Anthony's arrival, one thing I hadn't considered is the possibility of Mayer beating him to the majors. Mayer has a top prospect pedigree himself and is nearly two years older. Plus, we've already seen another Red Sox prospect, Kristian Campbell, cut in front of Anthony. If Mayer better meets whatever need develops -- say, if shortstop Trevor Story were to get hurt again -- then it might make more sense for the Red Sox to call him up rather than ask someone like Ceddanne Rafaela to shift positions to accommodate Anthony. This is especially true with Mayer looking like he's made his own leap developmentally, batting .372 (16 for 43) with five homers in his past 10 games. He's already more than halfway to his previous high in home runs, and he has the exit velocities and pull rate to back it up.

Jacob Misiorowski, SP, Brewers

2024 minors: 3-5, 3.33 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 97 1/3 IP, 60 BB, 127 K
2025 minors: 1-0, 1.82 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 29 2/3 IP, 13 BB, 38 K

Stuff has never been the issue for Misiorowski. On the contrary, it's the entire reason he's remained so high in the prospect rankings even as his control has become all the more concerning. But if you didn't know any better, you might think he was making strides in that area finally. It's certainly true over his last two starts, during which he threw 69 percent of his pitches for strikes, an elite mark. He covered 11 innings in all, allowing no runs on four hits with one walk and 17 strikeouts. It wouldn't seem, then, that his stuff was compromised by the improved control. Whether it's a lasting change remains to be seen, but it at least wards off the relief concerns that had plagued him recently. And there's an outside chance that he rather than Logan Henderson could get the call at the next rotation opening.

Jesus Made, SS, Brewers

2024 minors: .331 BA (175 AB), 6 HR, 28 SB, 1.012 OPS, 39 BB, 28 K
2025 minors: .329 BA (70 AB), 3 HR, 8 SB, .949 OPS, 9 BB, 15 K

Looks like we have a genuine prodigy on our hands, folks. That was the talk coming into the year, when a number of high-profile publications put Made in their top 50 (with Baseball America going as high as 17th) even though his highest level of play was the Dominican Summer League. But here Made is, at all of 17 years old, dominating a full-season league. It's only Low-A, but it's still telling. Jackson Chourio hadn't quite reached Low-A by that age, and when he finally did, he struck out at a much higher rate than Made is. If Made is somehow still available in your Dynasty league, you don't need to wait and see more. This early-season performance suggests that he's the real deal.

Hunter Barco, SP, Pirates

2024 minors: 4-2, 3.27 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 66 IP, 22 BB, 83 K
2025 minors: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 20 2/3 IP, 4 BB, 30 K

When Bubba Chandler inevitably gets the call, who will be the Pirates' next top pitching prospect? Like a dog who spent a summer abroad in Italy, I'm conditioned to say Barco. While others like Braxton Ashcraft have slumped their way out of the conversation, Barco has yet to allow a run in five Double-A starts, striking out 30 (which comes out to 13.1 K/9) while walking just four (which comes out to 1.7 BB/9).

Granted, these starts have generally lasted only four innings or so, meaning he still needs to prove he can sustain this performance deeper into games, but he's showing he has the goods to dominate, highlighted by a plus splitter and bolstered by a funky delivery.

Otto Kemp, 3B, Phillies

2024 minors: .285 BA (442 AB), 16 HR, 20 SB, .881 OPS, 52 BB, 112 K
2025 minors: .315 BA (108 AB), 9 HR, 4 SB, 1.099 OPS, 12 BB, 31 K

I featured Kemp here just a couple weeks ago, but he continues to command attention, having hit .429 (12 for 28) with three homers and two steals over his past seven games. Even in Dynasty circles, the 25-year-old wasn't much known coming into the year, but if what he's doing now is fake, it's not all that obvious from the data. His exit velocity profile (93.8 mph average and 112.0 mph max) is like you'd see from Gunnar Henderson, his ground-ball rate is among the lowest you'll find, and his strikeout rate is perfectly reasonable. Dig a little deeper, and you'll find that the overall contact rate is low, but there's a lot to like here, to be sure. And that's before you get into those other aspects of the game that have been known to sink prospects like him.

"He's always been a guy who has played really good defense," GM Preston Mattingly told The Philadelphia Inquirer in November. "He's one of the best baserunners in our organization. He's one of the best defenders in our organization, and he's always been one of the better at-bat takers. He does a great job controlling the zone."

So if the hitting is legitimate and Kemp already excels in those finer areas that Mattingly highlighted, surely he'll get a look should a need arise. And the need could be almost anywhere. In addition to third base, Kemp has started at first base, second base, and left field this year.