TODAY: The Cubs officially placed Amaya on the 10-day IL and selected McGuire’s contract from Triple-A.
SATURDAY, 11:00pm: Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports that McGuire is likely to be the Cubs’ choice to replace Amaya on the roster.
10:16pm: The Cubs were dealt a blow to their lineup today when catcher Miguel Amaya exited their game against the Reds due to an oblique issue. As noted by MLB.com’s Mike Petraglia after the game, the issue was described by the club as a left oblique strain and will require a trip to the injured list according to manager Craig Counsell. Petraglia adds that Amaya is expected to undergo imaging to determine the severity of the issue on Tuesday, which will likely give the club a clearer timetable for his return.
In the meantime, it’s safe to assume that Amaya will miss at least the next ten days and quite possibly much longer than that. Teammate Ian Happ required only a minimum stint on the shelf for an oblique issue earlier this month, but it’s not uncommon for more serious strains to require weeks or even months of recovery. It’s impossible to know exactly how long Amaya will be shelved until results from the imaging come back, but an absence of any length is frustrating for the 26-year-old given his brilliant start to the season at the plate this year. Through his first 98 plate appearances this season, Amaya has hit .286/.320/.516 with a 131 wRC+.
The youngster’s .333 BABIP is unlikely to be sustainable and 22.4% strikeout rate that’s five points higher than last year stands as a cause for concern, but even Amaya’s .313 xwOBA suggests at least league average production in his future. That’s a solid outcome for a young a catcher, but figuring out exactly where Amaya’s offensive future is headed will be put on hold for the time being. In the meantime, veteran Carson Kelly figures to step into a larger role behind the plate. The 30-year-old entered the season as the backup to Amaya on paper but forced himself into something of a starting role with a sensational start to the season.
He’s hit an unbelievable .287/.416/.574 in 125 plate appearances entering play today. That 176 wRC+ leads all catchers with at least 80 plate appearances, his nine home runs so far have already tied his total across 91 games last year, and he’s even walking (17.6%) more than he’s striking out (13.6%). It’s superstar level production from Kelly overall, and while he can’t realistically be expected to keep these numbers up forever, he smacked another two hits (including his ninth homer of the year) to improve his numbers for the month of May, which had dipped a touch below league average after a recent cold spell.
With Kelly now more firmly poised to take up the mantle of primary catcher in Chicago, the question remains of who will serve as Kelly’s primary backup while Amaya is injured. Moises Ballesteros is the only other catcher on the Cubs’ 40-man roster at the moment. He made his big league debut while Happ was on the IL earlier this month, but served exclusively as a DH while Seiya Suzuki shifted over to right field to cover for Happ. Ballesteros went 3-for-16 with two walks and a strikeout in his first five-game cup of coffee in the majors but did not take the field as a defender at any position, including catcher. Scouts have long considered his work behind the plate to be questionable, and while his .349/.410/.490 slash line at Triple-A this year shows there’s little left for Ballesteros to prove offensively in the minors it remains to be seen if the Cubs would be comfortable with him serving as a backup catcher in the majors at this point in his development.
If not Ballesteros, the Cubs will need to select the contract of a veteran in the organization on a minor league deal to the 40-man roster. The most likely candidate for that role would seemingly be Reese McGuire, who has 355 games under his belt at the big league level and is considered a quality defender despite being held back somewhat by a lackluster .252/.300/.364 slash line at the plate for his career. Another option would be 34-year-old veteran Carlos Perez, who offers even less with the bat than McGuire but does have five years of MLB experience under his belt and has a strong defensive reputation of his own. Neither player is as exciting as Ballesteros, but for a club that already has one of the league’s best offenses this year it’s fair to wonder if prioritizing defense behind the plate could make sense.
The year of obliques continues
To the best of my recollection and knowledge, in the 65 years I’ve been watching the Cubs, no catcher has ever hurt his oblique making a simple throw down to second. Something about everything in baseball nowadays is strange and wrong.
McGuire is a decent backup.
He may not have injured it making a throw to second base but if it was already injured that is when he would definitely feel it.
Reese McGuire – the guy that got arrested for getting caught pleasuring himself sitting in his car in a parking lot.
Spring training, plenty of time to kill.
Like you’ve never done that and in other places. Gimme a break.
I can promise you never in a car. Hahahaha
If he does it again I just hope he doesn’t hurt his obliques
A 40 man roster move is not needed. The Cubs DFA’d Nicky Lopez without selecting anyone else. Adding McGuire will bring the 40 man roster back to 40.
Yeah they did. They added Ballesteros. Plus they just had to put Brasier and Kriske on. But Wicks might have to go on the 60 day so that might help. Unless Brasier was already on it. Not sure.
Actually I just counted them. Cubs have 43 Players on the 40 man with 4 60 day slots. So they do have an open 40 man space. Not sure how it happened EXACTLY but….. Cool.
I’m not sure it would be wise to trust your math.
Look for yourself if you can count that high. MLB.Com- Cubs- Roster.
Uncle–I was with you—but it does make sense…when they recalled Shaw (already on the 40 man) they had to DFA Lopez who had no options so it “opened” a spot then.
I was under the impression (as the article says) that they would have to do some shuffling, but it appears that the can just add McGuire to the 40 man.
Roster Resource is a great tool—they even do the counting for us.
fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/cubs
Brasier was on the 15 day list for about 60 days. It just seemed like he was on the 60 day list, but he was never off the 40 man.
The starting pitching has gone from 9 deep to pretty thin. Hopefully Shota, Assad and Birdsell are on the mend. Brown, Horton, Rea, Boyd and Tallion isn’t very deep with only Noland healthy. Otherwise we’re down to Maeda( Puke), Romero and Solomon( Who?). They were stretching out Keegan but he got hurt. Wicks went out and Neely even took a liner off his knee tonight so it’s getting hairy out there. Wonder what move ole Jed is gonna come up with? Kyle Gibson jumped into my mind, I thought he’d be better than Maeda anyway. Which prospect is gonna go for what overpriced P who’s stinking right now? Somebody get healthy fast please.
Seems like the Cubs medical staff is terrible.
Seems like baseball is really stressful on the body, and players are swinging for the fences with every cut, leaging to a significant number of oblique injuries.
So all teams are having this issue to this extent? Doesn’t seem to be the case.
Really? Have you looked at the injured lists around baseball? Name me a team that ISN’T having issues like this? Actually compared to the Dodgers the Cubs seem kinda healthy right now.
How can Reese Mcguire be the best option to bring up?
He had 2 HR today, Boss.
I said the same thing on Twitter. I have no problem admitting I was wrong. I don’t think anyone thought he’d hit one homerun. Let alone 2 including the game tying homerun of a got damn lefty. Which a catcher that’s in the majors for his defense that’s very difficult to do. Lefty on lefty.
I think Ben Brown is pitching his way out of the Cubs rotation even as we speak, the injuries to other candidates notwithstanding. Keller and Flexen have been competent major-league starting pitchers, which is more than Brown has ever been.
Brown has been mostly a figment of Jed Hoyer’s imagination all along. And of the imaginations of certain dishonest bloggers whose names some of you don’t like me to mention, so I won’t.
Flexen has been pleasantly effective in his current role., as has Brad Keller. Both would also need a few weeks to get stretched out for a starting role. Jordan Wicks sustained another injury yesterday in his start at Iowa. Imanaga might not be back for another month. You complain constantly. You criticize everyone and everything. Offer a solution. Who replaces Brown? Fulmer? Do his numbers inspire you? Keegan Thompson? I’m sure you love him too as much as you love Ben Brown.
I offered a solution–Keller or Flexen. Brown can swap roles with either.
In the meantime, it will be fun to read Brett Taylor’s defense of Brown tomorrow–sure, Brett will say, he gave up 8 runs in 4 innings, but he got X number of “whiffs” and looked good in two innings….” Brett is the definition of a craven shill. If you’ll forgive me for complaining constantly,” or even if you won’t.
After a bad first inning Brown seems to be doing OK. Name me a pitcher who doesn’t have a bad inning? This is why you need to let young players have a long leash. They’ve got to learn on the job. And it’s why you don’t give them the quick hook like they did with Shaw. He could have made those adjustments on the job in MLB. They didn’t have to send him down. The guys they replaced him with weren’t any better and he lost experience. Who exactly are you going to replace him with right now anyway?
I agree with Alan on one thing – Ben Brown is not a capable MLB starter at this point in his career. That’s become painfully obvious. He doesn’t have an “out” pitch. He only has two pitches. Very few MLB starters survive and thrive with only two effective pitches. He needs to add at least one or two more pitches to his arsenal, and until that happens, starts like today will happen.
So like I said you need to let him figure that out for himself. It’s the only way he’s going to learn. And he doesn’t have an out pitch is a silly take on a guy who strikes out a ton of batters. He just needs to learn how to vary speeds on his pitches and that’s what Hottovy is for. Is he teaching him that and he’s not listening? I doubt it. It’s called learning. Every pitcher needs to do it. Throw his change up more. If you throw the ball the same speed against MLB hitters they will make you pay I don’t care who you are. Unless you’re Nolan Ryan. McGiuire seems to be doing OK. 2 Hr’s.
He just jacked one out.
Nice to see old Reese yanking it out of the park again. That guy really beats it. Surprised he doesn’t break more bars he whacks it so hard.
Not only are cubs razor thin behind the plate, both their starters and relief are just as thin. Ben brown not a starter but they have no choice.
This is going to test Hoyer to the Max. This is why you don’t want a lame duck POBO in his last year making the big decisions. He’s going to have to make a panic move going for the extension. I’ll give him credit for putting together a killer offense. Cubs come all the way back and are up 11-8. Can’t keep winning like this though right? What’s he going to do? The only way to get the 2 things they really need is sacrifice some of the future. The need an Ace and a Closer and have since Lester and Arietta left. So we’re up 11-8. Can we hold on? Is Pressly still the guy? The one thing that Jed does have is a deep list of bullpen guys who are basically the same and interchangeable up to a point I’ll give him that. Can he reel in the bigger fish without using up all his bait? This is where I think he’s lacking but we’ll see I guess.
Spanky is back.