Former South Bend Cubs Moises Ballesteros and Brandon Birdsell Named Chicago Cubs Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year

SOUTH BEND, IN - On Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs named former South Bend Cubs Moises Ballesteros and Brandon Birdsell the organization’s Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Ballesteros takes home the Player of the Year award for the second straight season, while this is Birdsell’s first time being given the honor.

Both Ballesteros and Birdsell played for the South Bend Cubs in 2023, and each of them finished the 2024 season with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. Ballesteros split last season between Double-A Tennessee and Iowa, playing in 124 total games, and batting .289 with 19 home runs and 78 RBI. He then went on to play in the Arizona Fall League with the Mesa Solar Sox. Birdsell also played in both Tennessee and Iowa, combining for 26 starts, with a 3.91 ERA. He walked just 31 batters in 135.2 innings pitched, along with 134 strikeouts.

With the South Bend Cubs in 2023, Ballesteros played 56 games and hit .300 on the dot, with six home runs and 31 RBI. Birdsell made his pro debut with South Bend on Easter Sunday in 2023 after being drafted out of Texas Tech, and wound up starting 18 games; Finishing with a 2.36 ERA, 80 innings pitched, 70 strikeouts, and a .201 opposing batting average.

Ballesteros is now a back-to-back winner of the Player of the Year award, and Birdsell joins a marquee list of former South Bend Cubs to take home either honor. Cade Horton won Pitcher of the Year in 2023, Luis Devers was the winner in 2022, and DJ Herz did it in 2021. Matt Mervis was named the Minor League Player of the Year in 2022, Brennen Davis in 2021, and Jared Young in 2018.

Get ready for the 2025 South Bend Cubs season, as season tickets packages are available now. Plans range from full-season seats to 15-game plans. Contact a South Bend Cubs Account Executive by calling (574) 235-9988 or visit the Four Winds Field Box Office. Additional information can be found by clicking here. Single game tickets for 2025 will go on sale in March. For more information on ticket options and on sale dates, subscribe to the South Bend Cubs Newsletter by clicking here.

About the South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs are the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. Over the past 35 seasons, the team has won five Midwest League titles, most recently in 2022, and captured nine division titles. In 2023, the organization was selected as the Single-A Bob Freitas Award recipient by Baseball America. Four Winds Field, home of the South Bend Cubs, was voted Best High-A ballpark in the country by Ballpark Digest in 2022 and 2023, having also won the award as a Low-A ballpark in 2017. In 2019, the South Bend Cubs hosted the final Midwest League All-Star Game. In 2015 the team was named Ballpark Digest's Team of the Year and received the John H. Johnson President's Award, the highest award in minor league baseball. The team is owned and operated by Swing-Batter-Swing, LLC whose principal shareholder is Andrew T. Berlin of Chicago, Ill.