How a brainstorm session has helped Amaya find his stride

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- Members of the Cubs’ hitting group gathered earlier this month to discuss possible offseason adjustments for Miguel Amaya. There is a belief that the young catcher is better than his numbers, and they wanted to search for a way to tap into the potential Amaya displayed as a highly-touted prospect.

“It was really the coaches sitting down,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Us sitting down and brainstorming, like, ‘We need to help Miguel. What can we do here?’ We just sat down and we just threw some ideas out there.”

The concept that the group arrived at involved eliminating Amaya’s leg kick and having him try a more subtle heel-turn timing mechanism. With his statistics lagging far below expectations (.596 OPS in 2024 vs. .688 in '23), the 25-year-old catcher bought into the idea and was given July 4-6 off from playing to focus on the change behind the scenes.

While the sample size is small, the early returns have been promising for Amaya. Since returning to the lineup on July 7 and putting the adjustment into action, the catcher has hit .524 (11-for-21) with one homer, one double and more walks (four) than strikeouts (two) in 26 plate appearances for Chicago.

“The bat speed was there. It was just the contact point -- being on time,” Amaya said. “That’s what I’ve been working on. That rhythm, that tempo to be on time. I know my hips rotate very well, so it was just that, to have my front foot on time on the ground, and just rotate and hit the ball.”

According to Statcast, Amaya has a .275 expected batting average and a .384 expected slugging percentage in July, following marks of .247 and .320 in June. Along the same lines, his expected wOBA has jumped to .344 in July from .281 in June and .277 in May.

Beyond the numbers, immediate results can reinforce for a player that it was the correct change and convince them to stick with the process.

“The confidence comes,” Counsell said. “And I think that’s what we’re seeing with Miguel right now. And catching a break once in a while -- that helps. But you’re proud of Miguel from that aspect, that he made an adjustment and got some results from it. And you hope it’s something that he can continue to build on.”

That would be a great development for the Cubs, who entered Wednesday ranked 28th in wRC+ (47) in overall production from the catcher’s spot. Between Amaya, Tómas Nido and Yan Gomes (designated for assignment on June 19), Chicago had a .192/.240/.280 slash from its catchers through 103 games. It has been thought to be an area the Cubs could potentially target for an upgrade ahead of Tuesday’s 5 p.m. CT Trade Deadline.

“Our catcher production has been poor,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “I think when you look at where we rank in the league, that’s been a struggle. I do feel like it’s come on a little bit recently, but I feel like our lineup, one difference between this year and last year is our lineup has felt more shallow. We’ve had games where it felt like the bottom of the order wasn’t producing.”

Amaya is hoping to show he can keep his recent run of success going.

“It’s hard. Hitting in this league is not easy,” Amaya said. “But as you do it while you’re coming up [in the Minors], you know that you can do it. That’s always been on my mind. Never a doubt. It’s something that I just have to keep grinding every day to keep getting better at it.”