Chicago Cubs Young Catcher Could Be Playing for His Job Down the Stretch

The Chicago Cubs have a young catcher that has a lot riding on the next couple of weeks of the season.

Aug 30, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya (9) pops out during the ninth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. / Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs had one of MLB's worst catching situations for much of the year before handing the full-time gig over to a young slugger. Could he be their long term answer?

As Jordan Bastian of MLB.com searched for the Cubs player with the most to prove down the final stretch of the season, he came up with catcher Miguel Amaya.

While other players might make sense as an answer because of an impending free agency or worse-than-expected play this year, Amaya makes sense as someone that could very well be playing for his job next season.

"Amaya worked with the [Chicago] hitting staff on a change to his setup (eliminating his leg kick) and the catcher saw immediate returns," said Bastian. "If he can keep his offensive progress going, it could influence how [the Cubs approach] the catcher’s spot for the 2025 season."

Chicago spent a long time this year trying to figure out what they were going to do at catcher.

Veteran Yan Gomes started the season as the No. 1 guy, but it quickly became clear that he was not going to cut it. He put up a horrid .154/.179/.242 slashing line over 34 games. Gomes was released in July.

They signed Tomas Nido after he was released by the New York Mets. He put up an even worse slashing line of .128/.143/.234 in 17 games before also being released.

Much to the surprise of many, the Cubs most successful catching corps consists of Amaya and Christian Bethancourt.

Bethancourt was picked up in July after being released by the Miami Marlins. In the 13 games that he's played since being called up, he's posted a .382/.417/.765 slashing line. It's hard to imagine him keeping that performance up in the long term, but even a fraction of that is fine for a backup.

Amaya has been more consistent over a solid stretch of the season now, making him a prime candidate to start next year in the role as well.

He's put up a .298/.339/.500 slashing line at the plate in his 38 games since the start of July. While he hasn't been the best defensive catcher this year, an OPS above .800 would make up for him being just average.

There are a couple of players coming down the Chicago pipeline that could figure into the future, but no one that is likely to start next year. Having Amaya work himself into keeping the job would allow for more flexibility in free agency as that would be one less position to worry about filling.