The Chicago Cubs’ offense looks like it has finally turned a corner and has been red-hot at the plate. They’ve scored seven runs or more in their last five games, putting up a total of 47 runs on 65 hits. In correlation, the same can be said about the Cubs’ rising star at designated hitter, Moises Ballesteros, who, after a slow start, has been a stone-cold hitter.

Ballesteros starts cold, but is on a heater

In the early, early going, it has been a tale of two seasons for Ballesteros. In his first eight games, the rookie was not competitive at the plate for the Cubs; he looked lost. He recorded just 3 hits in 22 plate appearances with eight strikeouts.

Since April 7th, it has been a completely different story. Over that eight-game span, Ballesteros has hit all three of his home runs and has five games with two hits. Albeit a small sample size, Ballesteros is 12 for 22 at the plate, posting a resounding .600 batting average with just one strikeout.

Putting it all together, Ballesteros has posted a slash line of .375/.409/.625 through his 16 games and 44 plate appearances. If he continues to post numbers like this, Ballesteros will surely find himself in conversations for the NL Rookie of the Year.

Sky is the limit for Ballesteros

At just 22 years old, Ballesteros is just tapping the surface of his potential. He provides the Cubs lineup with a steady left-handed bat that hits for contact as well as power, something they have been severely lacking since the departure of Kyle Schwarber. The scary part, to this point, Ballesteros hasn’t even been a permanent fixture in the Cubs lineup, but he needs to be moving forward.

Early on this season, Ballesteros has only been in the starting lineup when a right-handed pitcher is starting. Going a step further, any time Ballesteros is set to hit, and a lefty is on the mound, manager Craig Counsell pinch-hits for him. Counsell has been playing the handedness matchup as he has hitters like Matt Shaw and Miguel Amaya ready to come off the bench.

The problem is that this takes chances and opportunities away from Ballesteros. In the season, the designated hitter has only faced a left-handed pitcher twice, and in his career, he has only had six plate appearances. In those matchups, he has no hits, two walks, and has struck out three times. With how well he hits right-handed pitching, he needs to get a chance against lefties so he can keep his bat in the lineup.

Ballesteros is on the Cubs because he is a pure hitter. He doesn’t hold down a position on defense. They need his bat in the lineup every day, and he needs as many at-bats as he can get. Only then can he reach his full potential.