Amaya’s ‘long, hard road’ to The Show

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.

The emotions had already poured out of Miguel Amaya once. Now the Cubs catching prospect had to wait more than an hour for his parents to return his message from their home in Panama. When they did connect with their son, who told them he was heading to the big leagues, the emotions poured out once again.

“They started crying,” Amaya told reporters at Nationals Park this week. “I started crying, too. It’s something we’ve been waiting for for so long. It's been a while. But now, we’re here.”

Amaya had been planning on heading to buy some groceries, but a call from Double-A Tennessee manager Michael Ryan rendered that moot. It was unexpected for the catcher, but so was the long, winding road that led to this moment.

The Cubs added Amaya to their 40-man roster in November of 2019 when he was a rising star in the system and a two-time participant in the All-Star Futures Game. Following the 2020 season, during which Amaya trained at the Cubs’ alternate site, he was limited to 63 games across ’21-22 due to Tommy John surgery on his right arm and left foot (Lisfranc fracture) and ankle setbacks.

“He's had a long, hard road to get to this point,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “And a lot of adversity and injuries. The guy has been on the map for a really long time. He's off to a great start in Double-A, swinging the bat really well, coming back from the arm injury. All the reports say he looks really good. I’m happy he's here to help us out.”

The Cubs opened this season with three catchers: veterans Yan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart, plus Luis Torrens. A recent roster crunch led to Torrens being designated for assignment and traded to the Orioles for cash considerations. On Monday, Gomes was hit with a backswing against the Nationals and landed on MLB’s seven-day concussion injured list on Wednesday.

Those dominos led to the promotion of the 24-year-old Amaya (ranked No. 14 on Pipeline’s Top 30 prospects list for the Cubs). As Ross noted, however, the young catcher has been off to a strong start at Double-A. Amaya also used Spring Training, while still in the latter stages of his rehab schedule, to learn under the veteran catchers.

“He did a really nice job of putting his work in,” Ross said, “the little bit he could do, before he could really start getting after it and playing full-time.”

In 13 games with the Smokies, Amaya was hitting .273/.411/.659 with four homers, five doubles, eight RBIs and eight walks in 56 plate appearances. He got two starts at first base to help manage his workload. Throughout the Minors, especially before the injuries, Amaya was building a reputation for solid on-base ability as a hitter and good instincts and skills behind the plate.

“His swing's in a great place,” Cubs vice president of player development Jared Banner said. “And he's showing off the ability that we've always known was in there. It's just he's been sidelined for a while and unable to show it. It's great to have him back.”

Amaya is not only back. He is beginning to live out his lifelong dream of being a big leaguer.

“It hasn’t been easy,” Amaya said. “It’s been a roller coaster, ups and downs, a lot of work mentally, and of course physically. But this is something that gets us strong and positive and faithful every day. I’m so happy to be here, joining the team and being with this beautiful team.”