A few days after Taylor Davis signed with the Orioles, the Cubs seem to have found their new Triple-A catcher in 31-year-old Josh Phegley.
The Cubs obviously have Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini as their catching duo on the MLB roster, so Phegley is being brought into the organization as a depth guy who can fill in if needed throughout the season. Essentially taking over Taylor Davis’ role.
Phegley began his MLB career with the White Sox, playing in 76 games on the South Side from 2013-14. He’s been in the A’s organization for the past five seasons, making a career high 90 starts for Oakland in 2019. Overall, in 106 games last year Phegley slashed .239/.282/.411, with 12 home runs in 314 at-bats.
His defense has been up and down, as framing metrics measured Phegley poorly last season, but near the best a few seasons ago.
The Cubs are getting a solid back up catcher who has previous MLB experience. It’s not a major move and as long as Phegley isn’t splitting time behind the plate at Wrigley Field in the summer time it’s a fine addition.
