CINCINNATI – In the span of about a week and a half, catcher Reese McGuire went from opting out of his minor-league deal with the Cubs to homering twice for the major-league team against the Reds on Sunday.
As expected, the team put catcher Miguel Amaya on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique Sunday, after he exited with the injury the day before. In a corresponding move, the Cubs selected McGuire, who’d re-signed with the club on a minor-league deal just days before.
“When you’re the catcher, you’ve got to play,” manager Craig Counsell said before the game. “I would expect him to, once a series, be in there. And then, as we start this stretch after the home stand, when we have 26 [games] in 27 days, then it’ll probably be a little bit more, just because of the nature of the position.”
Shortly before the game, catcher Carson Kelly was scratched from the lineup with an illness, and McGuire took his place behind the plate.
McGuire was in major-league spring training with the Cubs this year as the third-string catcher, having signed a minor-league deal over the offseason. And he made the Tokyo Series travel roster, although he wasn’t active for the two-game set against the Dodgers.
McGuire, who had played parts of seven major-league seasons before this year, recorded an .827 ERA in Triple-A Iowa.
“I’m a confident player, and always believed that I belong in this league,” McGuire said. “So I was ready with Triple-A, for that opportunity down there, to just make the most of the games that I’m in and continue to hone in my skills and be ready for moments like this and and moments beyond.”
In his first at-bat Sunday, McGuire drove a solo home run to right-center field, just out of reach of leaping Reds right fielder Will Benson. Then in the eighth inning, McGuire’s second homer of the day tied the game at 8-8.
Cubs No. 4 prospect Moises Ballesteros is also a catcher. But the calculation was different this weekend, as the Cubs mulled over who to call up to serve as a backup catcher, than it was when Ballesteros got his introduction to the big-leagues earlier this month.
Ballesteros was the Cubs’ choice less than two weeks ago as left fielder Ian Happ landed on the IL because the ripple effects from his oblique injury left open a regular designated hitter spot.
“We want Moises to play,” Counsell said. “I think that’s still critical as a 21-year-old catcher. The experience of playing as much as he possibly can is really important in development still, and that’s a factor of this thing.”
The role of backup catcher would present less frequent playing time. And entering Sunday, Ballesteros had started just 247 minor-league games at catcher.
Amaya is the fourth Cub to land on the IL with a left oblique injury this year. Starting pitcher Javier Assad has been sidelined all season with a strained oblique he sustained before spring training and re-injured his Triple-A rehab assignment last month.
Happ had a minimum stint on the 10-day IL with a minor oblique strain. Reliever Porter Hodge is a week into his 15-day IL stint, which is expected to be a short stay.
Counsell dismissed the notion of a common thread between the ailments, pointing to the difference in positions and circumstances of the injuries, as well as the inherent risk in playing sports. The rotational nature of hitting and throwing makes oblique injuries more common in baseball.
“This is a very dangerous oblique sport,” Counsell said. “And if we want to train players to be bigger, faster, stronger, we are going to deal with this stuff. And the players have to train to be bigger, faster, stronger, to keep up.”