The Chicago Cubs today opted to go the conservative route, putting starting pitcher Justin Steele on the Injured List with his mild left forearm strain. The early reporting – and Steele’s comments – seemed to suggest he might need to miss only one start, depending on how he felt playing catch today. But, well, that’s not how this is playing out.
Steele will miss a minimum of 12 more days after the backdating (and two starts), but we’ll see if that’s all he misses. We Cubs fans aren’t known for optimism when it comes to the timeline on injuries that play out like this (it’s nothing … well, it’s not nothing, but it’s just a couple days … well, it’s maybe more than a couple days, but it’s just one start and no IL stint … well, it’s an IL stint, but it’ll be minimum … well … ).
Taking Steele’s place on the active roster, for now, is catcher Miguel Amaya. The Cubs can afford to go with the extra position player for a while, since Steele’s rotation fill-in is already on the roster in the form of Hayden Wesneski (and/or Javier Assad).
Amaya, 24, acquitted himself very well in his earlier call-up, winning high praise from the pitchers and coaches for his work behind the plate. And at the plate, although the numbers don’t show it, his at bats were fantastic – tons of hard contact (that found gloves). He was subsequently promoted to Triple-A (he had previously been at Double-A), where he simply RAKED. His is a bat that needs the big league challenge, and I hope the Cubs give him regular starts immediately.
The fact that Tucker Barnhart is starting tonight is hopefully more about logistics than anything else. Having three catchers on the roster will be tricky from a playing time standpoint, but Amaya better not be the one doing the most sitting. I already thought the Cubs should be STARTING to consider whether Amaya deserves more playing time in the big leagues than Barnhart.