Cubs manager addresses team's struggling catchers

The Cubs have received dismal production from the catcher position this year, a topic that manager Craig Counsell openly discussed recently, as relayed by Sahadev Sharma in an article at The Athletic.

“Frankly, our catchers’ offense has been a struggle,” manager Counsell said. “We’re going to need to have better offense from our catchers to have a good offense. To have spots in your lineup that aren’t producing stops rallies.”

The Cubs have given all of their playing time behind the plate this year to Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya, but both are hitting poorly, as Counsell admitted. The 36-year-old Gomes has plenty of good seasons on his résumé, hitting double-digit home runs eight times, but he has just two long balls this year. He has a 23.5% strikeout rate in his career, which is roughly average, but is currently being punched out at a 40% clip and has a batting line of .148/.176/.235. The 25-year-old Amaya isn’t quite as bad but his .194/.255/.274 line isn’t pretty either.

The problems don’t stop with the offense, as laid out by Sharma. Gomes has -6 Defensive Runs Saved this year and negative framing marks from FanGraphs, Statcast and Baseball Prospectus, while Amaya is hovering close to league average in those categories. The running games has also been a problem, with the Statcast catcher throwing leaderboard featuring ranking Amaya as one of the worst among qualified backstops while Gomes is in the middle of the pack. As Sharma highlights, the Cubs have caught just 13% of attempted base stealers, which has them tied for last in that department.

As noted by both Counsell and Sharma, pitchers play a role in that part of the game, but catchers obviously do as well. “Our catchers, you have to help to do that,” Counsell said. “You have to have help to be good at that. I think we’re going to continue to try to do a better job helping those guys be successful there.”

With struggles on both sides of the ball, the Cubs might have to think about making some kind of change. Clubs are sometimes reluctant to make midseason alterations to the roster at the catcher position due to the challenge of a new backstop having to learn the pitching staff in short order, but Sharma reports that Counsell doesn’t have those hesitations.

Actually pulling off such a switch would be somewhat complicated, as neither Amaya nor Gomes can be optioned to the minors. Amaya has exhausted his option years and has long been seen as the proverbial catcher of the future for the Cubs, meaning they likely don’t want to lose him based on a few rough months, especially when he’s likely to grow in time. “Big league at-bats for Miguel are a great teacher right now,” Counsell said. “At his experience level, he will improve.”

Gomes is far older and an impending free agent, but the Cubs are committed to him financially. They signed him to a two-year, $13M deal going into 2022, with a $6M club option for 2024. Gomes had a solid season in 2023, prompting the Cubs to trigger that option. Given his struggles and that salary, he would have no trade appeal, so the Cubs would likely have to eat that money and release Gomes if they wanted to pivot. Carrying three backstops would technically be possible but would involve bumping someone like David Bote or Patrick Wisdom from the roster and therefore cutting into the club’s depth at other positions.

Despite the challenges, it seems like Counsell is open to some kind of change. The Cubs could possibly find help from within, as Alí Sánchez is in the organization on a minor league deal and playing well. He has stepped to the plate 121 times for Triple-A Iowa this year and drawn a walk in 14% of those while hitting three home runs, leading to a line of .262/.372/.437 and a 113 wRC+. He has a sliver of major league experience and hit well in Triple-A last year with Arizona, slashing .311/.375/.492.

The Cubs could also look outside the organization to the trade market, but the options there may be limited. The Blue Jays are struggling a bit this year and have impending free agent Danny Jansen. He is very talented, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently highlighted, but the Jays are still in the playoff race. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported this week that the club isn’t planning to commit to either buying or selling until the All-Star break, which is still over a month away. Players like Carson Kelly of the Tigers or Victor Caratini of the Astros could make sense, but like the Jays, those clubs probably want to wait a few more weeks before deciding to sell useful players. Elias Díaz makes sense as a trade candidate on paper but the Rockies are notoriously reluctant to part with players even when logic supports such a move. Martín Maldonado of the White Sox is probably attainable but is playing worse than either Amaya or Gomes this year, with a batting line of .076/.124/.120.

Perhaps the Cubs will wait and see if Gomes or Amaya can put together a good stretch in the next month or so and then move to the trade market if that doesn’t happen. There’s some sense in such a path but also risk. The club is in the thick of an incredibly tight National League playoff race. Atlanta has a pretty firm grip on the top Wild Card spot but there are nine clubs within three games of each other in the battle for the final two. Despite a 31-32 record, the Cubs are atop that pile at the moment but it’s a situation where every game matters. This is something the Cubs know well as they finished 2023 just one game behind the final postseason spot.