Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya ‘ready to take that next step’

SURPRISE, Ariz. – Rookie Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy jogged out to the mound to visit with veteran starter Drew Smyly.

The bases were loaded, with Adolis García up to bat in the third inning. Smyly had never faced García, but he expected he was going to be aggressive. Amaya confirmed his hunch.

“What do you want to throw?” Smyly asked.

“Your fastball’s beating everybody,” Amaya said.

Four out of the next five pitches Smyly threw were fastballs, he said. And he got García to pop out to end the inning.

“He’s definitely taking charge and ownership of the position,” Smyly said of Amaya. “… He’s all ears when you want to talk, he’s never like, ‘I’m just here to hit,’ [or anything] like that. He wants to be really good. And when you walk around with that type of personality, the pitchers start to take notice, and they respect you more for it.”

Amaya’s quick integration onto the major-league team last year makes it easy to forget that entering last spring training, he was still building up baseball activities after sustaining a high ankle sprain and a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot the previous September.

The spring training before, he was only a few months removed from Tommy John surgery.

This year, he entered camp with his name already penciled in on the Opening Day roster. The Cubs also returned most of their pitching staff from last year, so he’s starting the season with a solid foundation of familiarity.

“Thank God we’re here, healthy,” Amaya said in a conversation with the Sun-Times. “And it’s just about going out and being happy, being excited for another day, and just doing what I’ve been doing, and staying on the same page as my pitchers and the other guys.”

Amaya, entering his first full MLB season, is still eager to learn. He so quickly went from emergency fill-in, when Yan Gomes sustained a concussion last May, to regular starter, splitting time with Gomes.

“It puts us in a good position with two guys that we know can handle a big part of the load,” manager Craig Counsell said early in spring training. “How it all shakes out – look, we recognize what Yan has done in this league, what he did last year. But know that … if we get in a situation where something happens, that Miguel is ready to take that next step.”

Though Amaya has more offense to unlock this year, that isn’t the reason the Cubs are confident in his ability to take that next step.

This Cubs team was built on run prevention, and catchers play a big role. They manage the pitching staff, call the game, frame pitches, block balls in the dirt, throw out would-be base stealers.

With experience, Amaya will continue to hone his game-calling ability, an area in which he has already taken strides. And he’ll keep working on controlling the run game. When he was recovering from Tommy John surgery, he couldn’t throw to bases, limiting his reps in recent years.

Amaya has overwhelmingly received positive reviews from pitchers last season on his calm presence, preparation and commitment – qualities that are difficult to teach. Counsell has already heard something similar.

“I have to rely on what others are saying from last year, and that has been echoed pretty strongly,” Counsell said. “And pitchers aren’t shy about saying the other thing, when it’s not there. So it’s a real thing for Miguel.”

Amaya makes it sound easy, but he was called up directly from Double-A when he debuted last season. His defensive performance under those circumstances bodes well for the future.

“When you have that self-confidence, and you trust yourself, and you believe in what you can control, that gives [pitchers] that confidence that there’s someone behind the plate that’s going to take care of their business too,” he said. “And that’s pretty much how I handle business, just trying to be calm, not speed up anything.”