By ChiCitySports,Paul Magno

Copyright yardbarker

The knock on the portly Ballesteros has always been centered around his lack of defensive prowess and his inability to really play any position on a consistent basis. But for the Cubs, right now, a DH-only bat is just fine. And it’ll be especially fine if Tucker isn’t able to make it back in time for the playoffs and current DH Seiya Suzuki has to remain the full-time fill-in for Tucker in right field.

Throw a hot Ballesteros into the mix with a red-hot Nico Hoerner, along with a few other offensive assets on a streak, and the Cubs may be able to push ahead without Tucker and with a cooled-down Crow-Armstrong.

“It’s not on one guy to do this,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell recently said, regarding the secret to reigniting the offense. “The consistent offenses take turns at being productive. Look, if we’re going to play a lot of October baseball, some of these guys are going to have to do special things. Which ones? It doesn’t really matter, but some of these guys are going to have to do some special things.

“We got a lot of candidates, and I think that’s why we’re capable of playing a lot of games in October. But we’re going to need some special offensive performances.”

Ballesteros is quickly proving himself to be one of those guys capable of pushing the team along.