Miguel Amaya Top Two Hitting Catcher

There’s no chance that his biggest fans thought Miguel Amaya would make this big of a turnaround at the plate because forget about simply being good again, the Cubs catcher has been one of the best at his position since being benched in July.

That’s right, Amaya has come back with a vengeance since making adjustments to his game in the batter’s box and going back to July 7, against the Los Angeles Angels, the 25-year-old has been the second best hitting catcher in all of baseball.

Among 26 catchers with at least 100 plate appearances since July 7, Amaya has posted a 161 wRC+, trailing only Tyler Stephenson of the Cincinnati Reds. During this incredible offensive performance, Amaya is slashing .333/.377/.556 in 109 plate appearances. The right-handed hitting catcher has 5 home runs and 7 doubles while only striking out 11.9% of the time.

In his previous 190 plate appearances to begin the 2024 season, Amaya was one of the worst hitting catchers in MLB. He had a slash line of .186/.249/.256, a 46 wRC+, which was dead last among catchers with as many or more trips to the plate as Amaya.

Yeah, Amaya’s resurgence on offense has been amazing.

Miguel Amaya is Good Again

I was pretty much done with Miguel Amaya five weeks ago as you’ll read later on, but credit to Amaya who has turned it around at the plate and has actually been pretty damn good since the All-Star break.

Amaya was benched for a few days following a brutal performance on July 3, but since returning to his regular playing time on July 7, the right-handed hitter has posted a 141 wRC+ in 62 plate appearances. Following his two-hit game against the White Sox Saturday night that included the game-winning two-run single in the eighth inning, Amaya is slashing .315/.373/.481, going 17-for-54 in his last 20 games.

He’s come a long way since his mini-benching. Amaya was down to a .504 OPS through July 3, and that was paired with some some awful moments on defense as well. But it’s a great sign to see that Amaya has been able to adjust because it was getting ugly this year.

(Previous Update)

Miguel Amaya was once told by Willson Contreras to get ready to be the future starting catcher for the Chicago Cubs, but in his first full season attempting to take over and establish himself as a pro Amaya has fallen well short of expectations. No one expects Amaya to be a good hitter, but he’s currently the fourth worst hitter in MLB among batters with at least 190 plate appearances oh and he keeps fucking up behind the plate.

The Cubs don’t have a clear answer to replace Amaya, although I’m sure it’s extremely tempting to call up 20-year-old Moises Ballesteros, who keeps playing like a star at Triple-A. However, the lack of a backup plan isn’t a good enough excuse anymore to keep Amaya around. The 25-year-old catcher leads the league in catcher’s interference and on Wednesday night Amaya recorded his fifth passed ball of the year in a critical spot against the Philadelphia Phillies that led to a loss.

With the game tied at three the Phillies had runners at first and second with one out. Tyson Miller was on the mound for the Cubs and he threw a 0-1 sweeper. Sure, the pitch was outside, but not close to being wild. Amaya flat out missed the pitch that allowed both runners on base to advance.

The very next pitch was hit to center field for a sac-fly that gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead and then they added another run with a Whit Merrifield RBI-single.

I don’t know, maybe I’m being a meatball fan here, but holy shit has Amaya done nothing to give fans any bit of confidence in his game. He’s gotta be elite behind the plate, but for the love of god just catch the damn ball at least.

And again, that’s only the defensive struggles. At the plate Amaya is now slashing .186/.249/.256. He just ended the month of June with a .452 OPS. He’s an automatic out right now and even when Amaya does get a hit it’s not doing any damage. Amaya hasn’t hit a double since June 9, and his last home run came on May 17.

I was a fan of Amaya when he was coming through the Cubs system and he did a solid job as a backup in 2023, but fuck, this guy should not be getting all these at-bats, especially when he’s floundering on defense too.

But hey, he’s 25-years-old, the Cubs stink this season anyway. Maybe he improves? Is that where the Cubs are with Amaya now? He’s out of options, so they don’t want to lose him on waivers if he’s DFA’d. Would that be a huge loss though?

What a shitty year.