Moises Ballesteros Leads Cubs Contingent to the Arizona Fall League

[Seth Stohs]

Better late than never. This week, we finally learned which players are on the rosters of the 2024 Arizona Fall League teams. The Cubs will be represented by four hitters and four pitchers. 

Image courtesy of Tennessee Smokies

The Cubs prospects will be playing with the Mesa Solar Sox. Their eight minor leaguers will be joined by minor leaguers from the Angels, A's, Rays, and Red Sox organizations. The season will start next weekend and will run through November 14th. That is followed by two days of playoffs. 

The Arizona Fall League is touted as a prospects league, and it is in some cases. That's usually with position players. Top starting pitching prospects that were healthy all year have completed plenty of innings. So many of the players sent to the Fall League missed time during the season. This gives them an opportunity for 50-80 more plate appearances, or maybe 15-30 innings for pitchers. A look through the Cubs representatives and I think you'll see that trend holds true. That said, the Cubs are sending one of their top hitting prospects which will be fun to watch . 

Each Fall League team has one coach from each of the teams that send players to that team. The Cubs are sending former big leaguers Bruce Billings to Mesa to work with the team's pitchers. 

Bruce Billings will be the Solar Sox pitching coach. He joined the Cubs organization in 2023 as the pitching coach of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. This season, he held the same position for the South Bend Cubs. The 38-year-old has been around the world in his career. He played baseball at San Diego State where he was the school's all-time strikeout leader (soon after broken by Stephen Strasburg). 

In 2007, he was drafted by the Rockies in the 30th round. Four years later, he was called up to the big-league club for his MLB debut. He gave up one run over two innings in the one game he pitched. That June, he was traded to the A's. He made three appearances and tossed five innings for Oakland. He spent 2012 and 2013 with the A's Triple-A squad. Before the 2014 season, he signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees. He pitched in one game for the Bronx Bombers and gave up four runs over four innings. He went on the Disabled List, but in late July, he was DFAd and released in early August. He signed with the Dodgers. Then in 2015, he spent the season with the Nationals' Triple-A club. 

In 2016, he pitched with the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in Taiwan. He was that team's ace for two seasons. In 2018, he pitched for the Fubon Guardians in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.  

What? That's enough reading about a coach? OK, let's get to the players. 

Grant Kipp (RHP, 24)
After attending Yale University for four years, Kipp signed as a non-drafted free agent with the Cubs. He made six appearances that summer, five for Myrtle Beach. In 2023, he pitched in 23 games (22 starts). He ended the season with five starts in South Bend.  That's where he began the 2024 season. He made one start but then went on the Injured List. He didn't pitch for two-and-a-half months. After three rehab appearances (totally five innings), he rejoined the Cubs in mid-July. He made nine appearances, three out of the bullpen. The final four games were all starts and he completed four innings in all of them. He tossed six scoreless innings against Beloit on August 20th for his lone win. The Fall League will allow him to work another 25-30 innings. 

Shane Marshall (RHP, 24) 
Marshall spent four seasons as a part-time catcher at the University of Georgia. He hadn't done much hitting in college, but the Cubs liked what they saw enough to take him in the 14th round of the 2022 draft. What the Cubs scouts like was a big, strong arm. Unfortunately, he needed Tommy John surgery late that summer and missed all of 2023 rehabbing in Arizona. He spent the 2024 season in Myrtle Beach. He pitched in 33 games and went 2-3 with seven saves and a 2.52 ERA. In 39 1/3 innings, he struck out 42 and walked 22 batters. The Cubs were wisely cautious with him. He never worked more than two innings or threw more than 36 pitches. He never pitched back-to-back days, and when he threw 25 or more pitches, he got at least three days between outings. In the Fall League, he will just keep working on becoming a pitcher. That is not an easy transition at all. 

Vince Reilly (RHP, 23)
Reilly began his college career at the University of Hawaii in 2020, but he transferred to Grand Canyon University in 2021. As a junior in 2022, he went 7-1 with 14 saves  and the A's made him their 18th round pick. He began his pro career with Low-A Stockton. However, he pitched just 4 2/3 innings over four games.  He went on the injured list in late April and when he was returned, he was released by the end of June 2023. In March, the Cubs signed him and he joined Myrtle Beach in mid-April. He pitched 32 games out of the bullpen. He went 7-4 with six saves. He had a 3.88 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. In 53 1/3 innings, he had 16 walks and 52 strikeouts. 

Luis Rujano (RHP, 21)
Born in Venezuela, Rujano attended Sunshine State Elite Academy in Kissimmee, Florida. The Cubs drafted him in the 13th round of the 2022 draft. He made his pro debut with Myrtle Beach in 2023. He pitched in 19 games and started nine of them. He was 0-4 with a 4.10 ERA over 52 2/3 innings, but he did have 56 strikeouts. He returned to the Pelicans in 2024. In his first two starts, he completed four innings. It was something he did just two more times the rest of the season. Both of those games he came out of the bullpen. He tossed five scoreless, one-hit innings in a late-June game against Fayetteville, and then in his final game of the year, he tossed four scoreless innings against the Woodpeckers.  

Sam Thoresen (RHP, 26) 
The former Minnesota Gopher signed with the Cubs following the Covid-shortened, five-round MLB Draft. Despite a fastball that can touch triple digits, the right-hander has not  been able to stay healthy. In 2021, he made seven starts for Myrtle Beach. Unfortunately, he needed Tommy John surgery. He made a handful of appearances late in the 2022 season. In 2023, he went to South Bend and was used in a piggyback role. Unfortunately, after just five appearances, he was back on the Injured List and missed the rest of the season. His 2024 season didn't get going until late May. He joined Myrtle Beach and just pitched short bullpen stints. However, he stayed on the roster the rest of the season. He usually went one inning. He completed two innings a handful of times. He never surpassed 38 pitches. He just turned 26 this week, but for a role pitcher, age isn't a consideration. He just needs to stay healthy. 

Moises Ballesteros (C/1B)
Ballesteros was one of the youngest players to reach Triple-A in 2024, and he will be one of the youngest players in the AFL. The Cubs signed the catcher from Venezuela in January of 2021 for $1.5 million. The Cubs have been aggressive with him since. After spending 2021 in the DSL, he split the 2022 season between the ACL Cubs and Myrtle Beach. In 2023, he started with 56 games for the Pelicans, then played 56 games for South Bend. He ended the year with five games in Tennessee. That is where he began the 2024 season. In 56 games for the Smokies, he hit .299/.372/.495 (.867) with nine doubles and nine home runs. He was promoted to Iowa where, in 68 games, he hit .281/.340/.454 (.794) with 15 doubles and 10 more home runs. Ballesteros is the #4 ranked prospect by North Side Baseball and is a consensus Top 50 prospect in all of baseball. It will be interesting to see how much he catches in Arizona as that is the part of his game that needs the most work. However, the burly batter is set up to debut early in the 2025 season. 

Benjamin Cowles (SS, 24)
Cowles grew up in outstate New York. He headed to the University of Maryland for three years. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round of the 2021 draft. After three games, he finished that season with 33 games for Low-A Tampa. That's where he started the 2022 season, but it ended with 23 games for High-A Hudson Valley. In 2023, he played in 106 games for Hudson Valley but ended the season with three games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He represented the Yankees last year in the Arizona Fall League and hit .290/.405/.551 (.956) with four doubles and four homers in 20 games. This season, the Yankees started him at Double-A Somerset. In 88 games, he hit .295/.376/.472 (.848) with 25 doubles and nine homers. At the trade deadline, the Cubs acquired him (and Jack Neely) from the Yankees in exchange for reliever Mark Leiter. Unfortunately, he had just injured his wrist on a hit-by-pitch. At the time, the Cubs doubted that he would play again this season. However, he spent September 10th through September 20th with Tennessee. He'll hopefully be able to make up 70-80 plate appearances. 

Jonathon Long (1B, 22) 
A southern California native, Long attended Long Beach State for three seasons. The Cubs made him their ninth-round pick in the 2023 draft. After three ACL games, he moved up to Myrtle Beach to end that season. The Cubs pushed him to High-A South Bend to start his first full season. In 68 games, he hit .247/.346/.417 (.763) with 12 doubles and 10 homers. He ended the season with 46 games with Double-A Tennessee. There, he hit .340/.455/.528 (.983) with nine doubles and seven home runs. That kind of performance will excite an organization, and he will now get an opportunity to keep the development going in Arizona. 

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What are your thoughts on the Cubs representatives in the Arizona Fall League? Which are you most excited about, and which stories do you find most intriguing? 

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