Miguel

Amaya

It’s hard not to think that Yan Gomes would still be with the Cubs if Amaya weren’t hitting so badly that the team felt it had to make some sort of change. Amaya is currently at .192/.251/.263 in 184 plate appearances. Statcast believes he’s been quite unlucky, but just to the point at which he should be merely significantly below average, rather than having the sixth worst OPS among all players with 150 plate appearances.

The end can come quickly sometimes. The usually solid Gomes actually performed a little better than his career norms at age 35 last season, but he’s really slipped both offensively and defensively this year. Nido won’t help with the offense, but he is an excellent defender and he might cut into Miguel Amaya’s playing time some.

Amaya’s homer projected at 374 feet and would have gone out of 10 ballparks, according to Statcast. In spite of Amaya’s struggles offensively — he’s batting .184/.248/.297 — the Cubs have continued to give him most of the starts behind the plate. Yan Gomes has gotten the nod in just one of the team’s last six games.

The slam off Tanner Bibee was Amaya’s first homer. The 25-year-old Amaya slumped down the stretch last year and still has something to prove if he wants to be assured of taking over from Yan Gomes as the Cubs’ starting catcher in 2025. He should play a little more than the typical backup this year, but he’s still clearly behind Gomes for now.

After starting the last two games, the veteran backstop will take Sunday afternoon off. Gomes has played well for Chicago this season and is hitting .266/.309/.413 with nine homers and 46 RBI across 340 plate appearances. Miguel Amaya will be Jameson Taillon’s batterymate on Sunday as the Cubs look to even up the series against Cincinnati.

Amaya has played two of the last five games with Yan Gomes filling the catcher role in the other three. Gomes will likely slot back in for game two on Friday evening. The Cubs have won seven of their last 10 games but are just 31-37 against teams over .500 and the Reds fall into that bucket (0.511). The Cubs will face Graham Ashcraft in game one with their typical lead-off crew of Tauchman-Hoerner-Happ-Bellinger at the top.

It didn’t seem like Amaya’s eighth-inning homer, which bumped the Cubs’ lead from two runs to three, would be a big deal, but the Cubs ended up needing the extra cushion. The Cubs just moved on from Tucker Barnhart in a show of faith in Amaya. The 24-year-old will continue to play behind Yan Gomes for the rest of this year, but he looks like a future starter behind the plate.

Wisdom was in the lineup against lefty Steven Matz on Thursday, but he’ll take a seat with right-hander Jack Flaherty on the hill for St. Louis on Friday. Miles Mastrobuoni will start at third base and bat eighth. Meanwhile, Miguel Amaya will catch Justin Steele and bat ninth.

It might be better for Amaya if he were catching regularly in the minors, but he sure has been productive when the Cubs have turned to him. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been happening more than twice a week; he’s started just nine games (six at catcher, three at DH) since June 9. The 24-year-old is batting .276/.403/.448 in 73 plate appearances.

The 32-year-old outfielder will take a seat with left-hander James Paxton toeing the slab for the Red Sox. Miguel Amaya will serve as the designated hitter and bat eighth for the Cubs on Saturday afternoon in Chicago.