TORONTO — When it came time for the Cubs to evaluate their bench, needing to drop a player to make room for Miguel Amaya upon his return from the 60-day injured list Tuesday, they decided to carry three catchers.
In the corresponding move, the Cubs designated utility player Jon Berti for assignment, holding onto backup catcher Reese McGuire.
“We just are prioritizing catcher depth, just simple as that,” manager Craig Counsell said before the game against the Blue Jays.
Amaya has been out since late May. He had a strong start to the year, posting an .819 OPS before landing on the IL with a strained left oblique.
“It feels amazing to be back, happy to be back with the team,” he said. “And thank God I’m healthy and now [can] help the boys.”
Amaya and Carson Kelly split time evenly early in the season. But Kelly took over as the primary catcher when Amaya got hurt.
With the way Kelly has been playing, Counsell said, the Cubs don’t plan on decreasing his playing time.
“In that sense, it may be a little harder for Miggy to get into an at-bat rhythm,” Counsell said. “But it’s obviously good to have a good player back.”
Amaya played in 12 rehab games between the Arizona Complex League and Triple-A Iowa on his road back from the IL. For much of it, he overlapped with right-hander Javier Assad, who was reinstated from the 60-day IL to start Tuesday.
“It’s always fun catching Javy,” Amaya said. “He’s an amazing guy, and always rooting for him and wishing him the best.”
In Amaya’s absence, McGuire hit six home runs to go along with his .250 on-base percentage, starting behind the plate about once per series.
He played well enough that if the Cubs had exposed him to waivers, he likely would have garnered interest from other teams with catching needs.
“Reese has done good with this opportunity,” Counsell said. “And catching is a position that we didn’t want to have to start anew with if something happened.”
Especially this time of year, with little time for any fresh addition to play catch-up, McGuire’s familiarity with the pitching staff would be hard to replace, regardless of how he hits with decreased at-bats.
“I’m happy with being able to help this team and get those opportunities that I got,” McGuire said. “And knowing that there’s still a good chunk of season left, and there’s going to be opportunities with the three of us here — it’s definitely going to be less — but definitely just continue to make the most of them and try to help the team win.”
Sandberg tribute
Cubs fans can pay their respects to the late Ryne Sandberg on Aug. 22 at Gallagher Way. The Cubs will hold a public tribute for the Hall of Famer and Cubs legend outside Wrigley Field from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Fans are invited to visit Sandberg’s statue and view the private funeral service on the Gallagher Way video board.
The public tribute is open to all; no ticket is required. The Sandberg family asked that, instead of flowers, fans bring nonperishable food items to be donated to Nourishing Hope and Most Blessed Trinity Food Pantry, the team said in a release.
