The catching position hasn’t been a productive one this season. But, on Thursday, Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya did something he had never done before in a 10-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.
Amaya, who batted ninth in the lineup, came to the plate at Wrigley Field in a scoreless game against Tigers reliever Tyler Holton, who came on after one inning for starter Kenta Maeda.
Before he batted, Seiya Suzuki singled, Nico Hoerner singled and Dansby Swanson singled. After Pete Crow-Armstrong struck out swinging for the second out, that put Amaya in position to either break the game open or leave the bases loaded.
He broke the game open.
Please join us in waving buh-bye to this baseball 👋 pic.twitter.com/U6J9cdUBcP
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 22, 2024
It wasn’t just his sixth home run of the season. It was the first grand slam of his career.
He had a great day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with five RBI and a run. He drove in the Cubs’ final run of the game on a single in the seventh inning.
Amaya has shown some improvement from his rookie season in 2023. But, the position remains an open question going into next season. After the game, he was slashing .221/.277/.333/.610 with six home runs and 29 RBI in 90 games.
He’s nearly doubled the number of games he played a season ago in a tandem with veteran Yan Gomes. Last year he slashed .214/.329/.359/.688 with five home runs and 18 RBI.
He and Gomes entered this season as the tandem behind the plate. But, Gomes saw a huge downturn at the plate and the Cubs designated him for assignment and released him earlier this season.
Right now he is working in tandem with Christian Bethancourt. But there is talent to watch in the Cubs’ minor league system at the position, most notably 19-year-old Moises Ballesteros, who has rocketed to Triple-A Iowa. He spent time during All-Star Game weekend at the MLB Futures Game, participating in the skills competition.
The 25-year-old Amaya was signed out of Panama and began playing professional baseball in the Cubs’ organization in 2016.
His home runs was just the tip of the iceberg offensively in Thursday’s win.
Crow-Armstrong went 1-for-4 and drove in two runs on a double. Hoerner, Swanson and right fielder Cody Bellinger each had two hits and drove in a run.
The win pushed the Cubs’ record to 63-65 and kept them on the outskirts of the National League Wild Card race.
Chicago will be in Miami to face the Marlins in a series that starts on Friday.
