Worst to first: Cubs’ Amaya made quick improvement at plate
Since taking three days off to work on his approach at the plate, catcher Miguel Amaya has been the Cubs' hottest hitter.
He's gone 10-for-18 (.556) with a double, home run and 4 walks since that process ended July 7. Amaya was in the lineup for the second day in a row Tuesday as the Cubs and Milwaukee were delayed by rain.
“In Miguel's case, it was really just the coaches sitting down and brainstorming,” manager Craig Counsell said. “'We need to help Miguel. What can we do here?' So we sat down and threw some ideas out and ended up going with this concept.
“To Miguel's credit, he bought in. What's always important is having some success after you make those adjustments, and he did, then the confidence comes, I think that's what we're seeing with Miguel right now.”
The question is, could the Cubs replicate that success with others? Since the all-star break, Pete Crow-Armstrong has gone 0-for-14 at the plate. Mike Tauchman is 1-for-13 with a walk since returning from the injured list. Among hitters at the bottom of the order, Dansby Swanson is slightly better at 3-for-13 since the break.
“One difference between this year and last year is our lineup has felt more shallow,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Monday. “One of the things I thought we were really good at (in 2023) is we were pretty deep one through nine and that hasn't happened, and the catching position has been part of that.”
According to baseball-reference.com, the Cubs rank 24th in MLB in OPS from the No. 7-9 spots in the batting order at .608. The Brewers are first at .751.
Injury updates
Cody Bellinger did take regular batting practice Tuesday as he works his way back from a left middle finger fracture. He's eligible to come off the injured list at any time, and manager Craig Counsell suggested Bellinger could spend the first few days at DH if his hitting continues to progress faster than throwing. …
A few pitching injury updates: The plan was for Adbert Alzolay (right flexor strain) to throw in an Arizona rookie league game Tuesday, Caleb Kilian (right shoulder strain) continued his rehab in Iowa, and Keegan Thompson (right rib fracture) threw live batting practice in Arizona.
Eye on the future
One issue facing the Cubs is trying to figure out which of their top prospects can be successful in the majors, despite few openings in the lineup. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was asked about the possibility of using all the young players and trying to trade some of the current veterans.
“When players enter a situation where that pressure isn't there (to excel right away in the majors), it might be a little bit easier, but that's not going to be an option,” Hoyer said. “There's kind of no point going through the hypothetical.
“There's no reason to think with the right addition, (in 2025) we won't be right where we thought we'd be going into this year, if not a little bit further along because the young players are further along.”
Owen Caissie, Moises Ballesteros, Alexander Canario, Matt Shaw and James Triantos head the list of players who could be ready in the next year or so.