After injury-shortened '25 season, Amaya enters camp at '100 percent' health

MESA, Ariz. -- Miguel Amaya was among a group of Cubs players who headed to Field 1 on Tuesday morning for a casual round of batting practice. It had to be a welcome sight for the small gathering of fans watching from beyond the chain link fencing.

Amaya’s campaign with the Cubs began with such promise a year ago, when he was coming off a breakout second half in ‘24 and backed it up with a strong start to last season. The catcher is healthy and ready to hit reset for this important ‘26 tour with Chicago, beginning with a stint with Panama in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

“It’s going to be a great year here with the Cubs,” Amaya said after Tuesday’s workout. “We’ve got a good squad. For me, the season begins yesterday. My mentality is, 'I want to win every single game this year.'”

The catching situation for the Cubs looks similar to how things were set up during Spring Training last year. Amaya is part of a tandem with veteran Carson Kelly, giving Chicago two starting-caliber options for manager Craig Counsell to mix and match based on who is pitching, the day’s matchup and keeping both catchers fresh.

That 1A/1B plan worked well out of the chute in ‘25, especially given Kelly’s hot offensive start for the North Siders. Through May 24, Chicago’s catchers combined for a .792 OPS and a 121 weighted runs created plus (wRC+), which both ranked third overall in the Majors for the position. The best-case scenario was playing out.

That is the idea once again for this season.

“No matter who is playing -- if it’s Carson or if it’s myself -- we’re going to do damage,” Amaya said. “We’re going to help our team. We’re going to take care of our pitchers. That’s what we were doing in the beginning of the season. Let’s get back on track.”

That May 24 cut-off point is intentional, because that is when the injury issues flared for the 26-year-old Amaya last year. The catcher was sidelined with a left oblique injury on that date and then -- during his comeback game on Aug. 13 in Toronto -- Amaya sustained a left ankle setback that effectively ended his season.

Amaya hit .281/.314/.500 with four homers, nine doubles and 25 RBIs in his abbreviated 28-game showing last year. That was the continuation of his turnaround in the previous year, though. Since July 7, 2024 -- when Amaya debuted a noticeable change to his swing mechanics -- the catcher has hit .282/.325/.480 with 10 homers, 57 RBIs and a 123 wRC+ in 82 games.

Unable to complete a comeback during Chicago’s playoff run, Amaya said he took roughly a month off of all baseball activities between October and November with the hope that he could then have a relatively normal offseason.

“I let the body heal,” Amaya said. “And after that, when I started back on track with doing everything, I said, ‘Damn, I feel great.’ My body was 100 percent, good to go. I can say in early December I was feeling good to go.”

And that was great news for Team Panama with the Classic coming up.

Amaya said he has known Panama manager Jose Mayorga and the team’s general manager since he was young. They kept in touch with the catcher throughout last season, hoping he could return to 100 percent in time for the tournament. Once Amaya got back to work and knew he was over last year’s injury setbacks, he was excited to join Panama.

With Amaya, veteran Christian Bethancourt (non-roster invitee with the Cubs) and Iván Herrera (Cardinals) all on the roster, Panama has a talented corps of catchers.

“It’s going to be an amazing experience,” Amaya said. “I’m proud of representing my country. It’s a pleasure to have ‘Panama’ on my chest and make my family proud and the entire country. And also share it with all those guys, especially with Bethancourt and Iván. Those are very close guys to me.”

On either side of Panama’s run in the Classic, Amaya is also excited to work with the Cubs’ revamped pitching staff.

Chicago traded for hard-throwing righty Edward Cabrera, who was in camp on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s first official workout for pitchers and catchers. The Cubs also re-signed Shota Imanaga, while adding a pile of new relievers, including Phil Maton on a two-year deal.

“I love it,” Amaya said of the new additions to the staff. “I know and believe that we’re going to do a great job this season.”