Miguel Amaya Has Re-Emerged as an Equal Partner in Cubs' Catching Corps

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Over the weekend, Miguel Amaya started two consecutive games behind the plate. It was the first time he'd done that since late June, but it was also just the latest indication that the team is beginning to trust their younger backstop more—and that they realize they need to get Carson Kelly more rest. It's a shift with implications for both the present and the future behind the plate in Chicago.

Since the start of July, Kelly has started 22 games, while Amaya has started the other 18. Before that, the playing time had not been nearly so evenly distributed, with Kelly starting 48, Amaya starting 32, and Moisés Ballesteros starting five games in the team's first 85. Of the last 22 games the team has played, Amaya and Kelly have divided the starts right down the middle.

This was the initial plan, when the Cubs signed Kelly in December 2024. Like several other teams, they believe the best way to manage the exceptionally heavy on- and off-field workload of catchers is to divide playing time as evenly as possible between two solid options and to have a third person who can be sprinkled in to soak up some innings throughout the season. Because of Amaya's oblique strain last May, Kelly ended up having to start 71 of the team's last 110 games behind the plate, and that workload caught up to him down the stretch. Early this year, as Amaya's bat speed remained low and his production looked sluggish, Craig Counsell reluctantly ratcheted up Kelly's playing time again.

Lately, however, Amaya's performance has trended in the right direction, just in time to shield the team from some difficulties for Kelly. His bat speed is up over his last six weeks of playing time or so:

Amaya's swing also has more tilt than it did when he first came to the majors, allowing him to square the ball up consistently—and to all fields, as he demonstrated with an opposite-field home run during garbage time on Sunday.

Amaya's feel for the barrel has improved right along with his bat speed since the heat of summer began to gather in earnest. He's also been a solid defender this year, including doing a better job against the running game than Kelly. Put all of that together, and he's earned renewed trust and opportunity from Counsell. Since the All-Star break, he's batting .279/.326/.465, in 48 plate appearances. That should be good for the Cubs on multiple fronts.

At 27 years old, Amaya is five years Kelly's junior. He's been in the mix forever, so often delayed by injuries and now out of minor-league options, but he's also under team control through the 2029 season. He'll be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, but is only in line for a modest raise there. Kelly, meanwhile, will become a free agent this fall, when either he or the team declines their side of a mutual option for 2027.

That makes the re-emergence (and, for now, the good health) of Amaya a major development for the team's medium-term future. They were more comfortable moving Ballesteros at the trade deadline because Amaya had shown that he can handle a greater workload than in the past for the balance of this year. They felt comfortable prioritizing keeping Owen Ayers, whom they view as their catcher of the future, and are tentatively planning to partner Amaya with Ayers next season. They might re-sign Kelly, if he wants to return on favorable terms, but it's just as likely that they'll bring in a catcher on a split or minor-league deal and give Ayers and Amaya a chance to assert themselves as the new Amaya and Kelly.

In the meantime, while Kelly is in a dip right now, playing Amaya more often during this difficult August grind should produce a fresher version of the veteran in September and October. Amaya has another handful of weeks to show that he deserves playing-time parity even in the looser schedule of the postseason, but whether he does so or not, his play over the last month-plus has already been huge for the team.