Cubs send slumping Ballesteros down to Iowa

The Cubs sent Moises Ballesteros back to Triple-A Iowa before Friday's game against Toronto and called up outfielder Justin Dean.

In some ways, it was surprising the Cubs waited so long to send Ballesteros down for an offensive reset. Playing mostly designated hitter, the Venezuela native got off to a great start, with a 1.012 OPS in March and April. He and Nico Hoerner were the catalysts of a powerful Cubs offense back then.

But it all came to an abrupt halt. Ballesteros' OPS plummeted to .358 in May. He's been up slightly in June to .555, but he's obviously struggling to adjust as opposing pitchers search out weak spots in his swing.

“I do think for a while, the league kind of played a north-south game with him, challenging him up with fastballs, up out of the zone, then soft, varying speeds (low breaking balls) for sure,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before the game. “I think he has controlled that a little better as of late, and frankly, he just hasn't squared the ball up and hasn't driven the ball very much. The ball's been on he ground a lot, and you're just not going to slug with the ball on the ground.”

This feels similar to what Matt Shaw went through last season when the Cubs handed him the third base job as a rookie. The difference is Shaw struggled right away, was sent down in mid-April for about a month, and was much better when he returned.

“(Ballesteros) went through a whole bunch of different phases in a pretty quick period of time,” Counsell added. “I think that's fairly normal for a young player.

“He's a talented hitter. He's 22 years old. He's done some very good things in the league quickly already. There's a good player there and sometimes you have to go through some struggles to get there.”

Counsell mentioned another reason to send Ballesteros down is to give him more reps at catcher. He got five starts behind the plate and everything went reasonably well. He threw out a base stealer for the first time in his MLB career on Tuesday against Colorado.

The Cubs will have some decisions to make at catcher after the season, since Carson Kelly can opt out of his deal and become a free agent, the Cubs could theoretically use Ballesteros behind the plate more often, and prospect Owen Ayers has produced impressive hitting stats Double-A this season.

Dean, 29, has some big-league experience, logging 18 games with the Dodgers last year. He hit .333 in Iowa this month, but Counsell said Dean will be used mostly as a runner.

Boyd tries again

Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd will throw a rehab outing with the Single-A South Bend Cubs on Saturday in Fort Wayne. The hope is, everything goes well and Boyd will then return to the major-league rotation.

Boyd has been on the injured list since May 6, when he had arthroscopic surgery to remove loose cartilage in his left knee. He threw two rehab starts for Triple-A Iowa, most recently on June 6, but his scheduled return to the Cubs had to be postponed due to left shoulder soreness.

DH by committee

Without Mioses Ballesteros, the Cubs plan to use a variety of options at designated hitter. Craig Counsell said expect to see Seiya Suzuki, who has been nursing a sore knee, at DH this weekend. Matt Shaw got the start in right field Friday.

“I think our choices at DH are a little bit muddled right now,” Counsell said. “There’s no clear-cut DH, necessarily, when everybody’s healthy.”