Miguel Amaya DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya is not in the starting lineup when the Cubs continue a series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday afternoon. Instead, Carson Kelly will be behind the dish and bat in the nine-hole. Amaya has been given the starting nod in six of their first 10 regular-season contests. During the start of the season, Amaya has held a .250/.250/.417 line with four doubles (six hits) and seven RBI. Fantasy managers should expect Amaya to return to the starting nine on Sunday afternoon. Kelly has enjoyed an impressive start to his Cubs tenure. On March 31, the veteran backstop hit for the cycle and brought in five RBI. This afternoon, Kelly will have a tough matchup against San Diego right-hander Nick Pivetta, who did not allow a run in his first outing of the campaign.

Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya will head to the bench ahead of Friday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. This is an interesting decision after Amaya delivered two hits and collected five RBI during the team's win on Thursday. It appears the 26-year-old is going to really split time behind the plate this season. Carson Kelly will do the catching and bat ninth against right-hander Merrill Kelly on Friday. Neither catcher is likely going to be able to provide reliable fantasy value, assuming they continue to split up the time behind the plate.

Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya drove in five runs in the Cubs' first win of the season on Thursday night, going 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles. He had a three-run double in the fifth inning and a two-run double in the ninth inning, and his five RBI were exactly half of the team's 10-run total as their offense woke up after struggling in the Tokyo Series. Amaya is 3-for-8 (.375) in his two games this season and is expected to split work behind the plate with Carson Kelly. If he hits like this, he could get the majority of the work and emerge as a strong option in NL-only leagues. He hit .271 with a .328 wOBA after the All-Star break last season and will look to continue to emerge as a fantasy option behind the plate as the season goes on.

Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya could lose playing time in 2025 after the club added veteran Carson Kelly at the position this offseason to give manager Craig Counsell flexibility to distribute playing time more evenly, as opposed to a traditional starter-backup setup, according to MLB.com. Amaya turns 26 in March and posted a nice .760 OPS in the second half in 2024, but he also hit just .163 with a .463 OPS against left-handed pitching and has room to grow as an everyday catcher. Meanwhile, Kelly hit .302 with an .807 OPS in 49 plate appearances against lefties last year. "Look, Miguel showed at times last year, he deserves and he should be the guy," Counsell said. "And other times he's shown us he needs a break. And so I think Miguel is going to still have the opportunity to be a guy that is a regular contributor." Those expecting Amaya to take the next step in 2025 might want to temper expectations.

Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya is out of the starting lineup ahead of Monday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. This appears to be a regular rest day for Amaya, who smacked a home run during Sunday's game. In his absence, Christian Bethancourt will be behind the plate and bat eighth versus right-hander Aaron Nola. Bethancourt has been great during his short period with the Cubs. Through 22 games, Bethancourt is hitting .306 with three home runs and 15 RBI on the North Side.