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.

SAN DIEGO -- Once the baseball left Miguel Amaya’s bat, destined for the seats beyond Petco Park’s left-field wall on Sunday afternoon, he found himself thinking about the first home run he ever hit. He was eight years old, playing in a tournament in his hometown in Panama.

“It felt good like that one,” Amaya said with a smile.

This was a little different. The two-run shot that Amaya launched in the third inning of the Cubs’ 7-1 win over the Padres was the first blast of his Major League career. It came on an up-and-in fastball from righty Drew Carlton and was part of a three-hit day for the rookie catcher.

The 24-year-old Amaya was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Saturday to give Chicago an extra righty bat off the bench and a third catching option behind veterans Yan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart. Amaya was slotted into Sunday’s lineup as the designated hitter and manager David Ross plans on working him in behind the plate in upcoming games, too.

“He proved that he was able to handle the opportunities he was given,” Ross said. “He handled the pitching staff really well. So, we’re just giving him another opportunity to come in, continue to get big league seasoning, be around an environment with a lot of winners here and just continue to have his career grow and help us win ballgames. I think that’s what it boils down to.”

In his six-game stay with the Cubs in May -- while Gomes was on MLB’s concussion list -- Amaya came up from Double-A Tennessee and guided the Cubs’ staff to a 2.32 ERA while catching. He hit .231 but had a series of hard-hit balls turn into unlucky outs during that time, Amaya put five balls in play that checked in at over 100 mph, per Statcast, but they resulted in outs. In fact, the three hits he collected had exit velocities of 68 mph and 67.4 mph (twice).

Amaya handled it well.

“A lot of times, especially young guys,” Cubs starter Marcus Stroman said, “you see guys that are just really wearing the highs and lows. And Amaya's a guy that's so cool and collected each and every day. You can tell -- it's like a veteran presence. That's something that gets built over years, but some guys have it when they're young. And he does.”

Amaya hit .273 with a 1.070 OPS in 13 games at the Double-A level before his promotion to the Majors and then hit .313 with a .929 OPS in 15 games for Triple-A Iowa prior to his latest call to The Show. The experience in the middle -- the in-game moments and behind-the-scenes preparation with the Cubs’ staff -- gave him plenty to take with him back to the Minors.

“Since I got sent down,” Amaya said, “in my mind, it was, ‘I’m a big leaguer. Why not play as a big leaguer?’ That’s all I did. Play hard, help my pitchers, help my team, go out there and have fun.”

Given the small-sample nature of his big league career to date, Amaya’s performance on Sunday (two singles, one homer and a hit-by-pitch) greatly boosted his season line. He entered the day with a 59 wRC+ and left Petco Park on Sunday with a 176 wRC+ in the Majors.

And while Amaya trotted around the bases, following his first career home run in the Majors, his thoughts drifted to his parents. In fact, the baseball that was retrieved -- with the help of members of the Cubs’ bullpen -- will likely be headed their way soon.

“I have no words how to explain it,” Amaya said of his first career blast. “But I felt it as my first homer when I was a kid. When I was running the bases, seeing everybody sharing in the home run, in my mind, my parents were probably jumping at home. It’s something that I’m going to remember the rest of my life.”