Half of the Chicago Cubs’ productive catching tandem is expected to be out at least a month as a result of an injury, manager Craig Counsell told reporters on Tuesday.
Miguel Amaya is expected to be out 4 to 6 weeks with an oblique strain, which landed him on the 10-day injured list over the weekend.
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Amaya, who underwent an MRI after suffering the injury Saturday, is slashing .280/.313/.505 this season.
Cubs C Miguel Amaya out 4-6 weeks with oblique strain.Moises Ballesteros not the option right now.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) May 27, 2025
Expected to be the starter coming into the season, Amaya had ceded time to Carson Kelly, who is among the most surprising offensive forces in baseball this season.
Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images
Kelly, 30, is slashing .301/.425/.612 in his 10th major league season. Still, losing Amaya until the All-Star break or later is a big blow to the top team in the National League Central as they look to keep both their catchers fresh for what promises to be an exciting stretch run in Chicago.
The Cubs (33-21) enter Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies with a three-game lead in the division over the rival St. Louis Cardinals (30-24).
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Amaya strained his right oblique trying to throw out Cincinnati Reds speedster Elly De La Cruz on Saturday. He left the game and was replaced by Kelly, then officially went on the injured list the next day.
Now, the Cubs know the full extent of Amaya’s injury.
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“We’re trying to get him back before the All-Star break,” Counsell told reporters, including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Miguel Amaya’s MRI results showed he’ll likely return in the 4-6 week range, Craig Counsell said, “which means we’re trying to get him back before the All-Star break.”
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) May 27, 2025
Amaya, 26, appeared in 117 games last year for the Cubs, and showed enough promise for the team to effectively sit out the market for the best catchers in baseball over the winter.
Amaya slashed .232/.288/.357 in his first full big league season, and figured to be the Cubs’ primary catcher entering the 2025 season.
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Instead, the lion’s share of the plate appearances have gone to Kelly, who signed a two-year, $11.5 million contract in December 2024.
Kelly has never started 90 games in a season in his career, which began in 2016 when he was the heir apparent to Yadier Molina in St. Louis. From 2016-24, Kelly slashed .224/.307/.373 (86 OPS+).
Now, it will be interesting to see if he can maintain his offensive production with a starting catcher’s workload for the next month or longer.
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