When the Chicago Cubs went into the offseason, they’d two key areas to improve offensively.
They landed the celebrity bat they wanted when they acquired slugger Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros on Dec. 13. That very same day the Cubs introduced the signing of veteran catcher Carson Kelly to bolster the opposite space of their lineup that wanted to be addressed this winter.
The Cubs wished to discover a catcher to pair in a 1A-1B setup for 2025 with Miguel Amaya, who confirmed promise final yr when the 25-year-old made wanted changes on the plate midseason to hit .277 with a .326 on-base share and .785 OPS over the ultimate three months.
Amaya possesses the kind of upside following his first full major-league season that makes it interesting for the Cubs to couple him with Kelly, coming into his tenth season together with his fifth group.
“I believe again to after I was 25 taking part in within the large leagues and there’s loads thrown at you as a participant, so that you’re juggling studying the employees, new guys being on the big-league stage after which hitting as properly,” Kelly mentioned after he signed.
“There’s lots of attributes and lots of issues that you need to steadiness. So coming in I look ahead to assembly him and speaking with him and seeing how he operates. I look ahead to choosing his mind, possibly studying some issues about his sport that I can apply to mine and the way we will be one of the best group to exit and win ballgames.”
The Cubs want extra offensive manufacturing from their catcher place, which ranked among the many backside third within the majors in 2024. Amaya, Yan Gomes, Christian Bethancourt and Tomás Nido mixed to place the Cubs twenty fourth in offensive WAR and twenty sixth in OPS amongst catchers, even with Amaya’s robust second half and Bethancourt’s stellar energy manufacturing within the final two months.
Consistency is a should for the Cubs’ collective lineup, and their catchers aren’t absolved from needing that to be a part of their sport. Kelly is coming off his finest offensive season since 2021 after posting a 104 OPS+ in 60 video games with the Detroit Tigers. He visited Marucci Sports activities earlier than final season to get bat fitted and, with out naming specifics, credited the Tigers for serving to him implement issues into video games instantly.
“I take a look at my profession, I’ve had some actually good moments and a few fairly, fairly darkish moments, so I believe this final yr, it was actually simply making an attempt some various things, placing myself on the market, being weak, and making an attempt some issues,” Kelly mentioned. “Trusting these guys actually helped me study loads about myself and type of get again to what I used to do a pair years in the past. However lots of it’s simply little issues that may add up and put collectively.”
Kelly’s attraction to the Cubs went past the uptick in his offensive numbers final yr. The Cubs have constructed protection up the center with Gold Glove Award winners Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner an elite double-play unit and Pete Crow-Armstrong protecting heart discipline. Kelly’s defensive work is a key piece to his worth.
“He throws properly, which I believe is absolutely necessary in right this moment’s sport with lots of base stealing, and so I believe we prioritized simply getting a extremely good participant,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer mentioned.
“However I do suppose that the defensive half was one thing that we talked about extensively. And, once more, I believe throwing is a extremely necessary side of baseball in 2025 and I believe in our division specifically, we’ve some athletic groups that run in our division, so ensuring we don’t lose sight of that was necessary. Carson definitely checks these containers.”
The Cubs roster stays an unfinished product. They nonetheless want extra pitching, ideally one other starter and including a confirmed arm or two to the bullpen. The Cubs will know inside the subsequent 2½ weeks whether or not Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki picks them because the 23-year-old phenom’s major-league group. Additionally they may use a veteran energy bat off the bench, although they addressed the necessity for versatility within the infield once they traded for the Miami Marlins’ Vidal Bruján.
“Actually there’s lots of gamers on the market, and our group just isn’t full, so we’ll proceed to make lots of strikes,” Hoyer mentioned after the Tucker and Kelly additions. “So we’re not carried out. Now we have to proceed to spherical out the group to get higher for subsequent yr, and we’ll work on that for the following couple months.”
