The Chicago Cubs have placed catcher Tomas Nido on the 10-day injured list with a knee injury, and have called up catcher Christian Bethancourt from Triple-A Iowa.
The Cubs signed Nido after he was released by the New York Mets in June, which allowed Chicago to release Yan Gomes. Since being signed, Nido has played in 17 games as the backup to Miguel Amaya. The 30-year-old has struggled at the plate since arriving on the North Side, though.
In his 17 games, Nido has slashed .128/.143/.234 with just one home run and four RBI. With Amaya also struggling at the plate, hitting only three homers with a 69 OPS+ in 72 games, the Cubs have been in need for an offensive upgrade at the catching position.
They signed Christian Bethancourt after he was released by the Miami Marlins. Before his release, the 32-year-old played in 38 games, hitting two home runs, three doubles and posting a .466 OPS.
In seven games with Iowa, Bethancourt collected five hits in 26 at-bats, none of which were for extra bases.
To make room for the roster move, Chicago transferred pitcher Ben Brown to the 60-day IL. In his rookie season, Brown has pitched in 15 games, posting a 3.58 ERA in 55.1 innings.
The move to replace Nido with Bethancourt is a quick fix, for now. There is no doubt there will be clamoring for top catching prospect Moises Ballesteros to make his debut this season with the struggles the Cubs have had at the position.
However, he is only 20 years old and the team may want to get him some more seasoning before promoting him to The Show.
