Chicago Cubs: Should the Cubs carry three catchers moving forward?

Much has been made of finding a way to keep Taylor Davis on the big league roster given his success with Yu Darvish. Can the Chicago Cubs make it work?

The much-maligned Yu Darvish has struggled to throw consistent strikes in his time with the Chicago Cubs. However, in his last start against the Cincinnati Reds, he struck out 11 and did not walk a single battle, marking his first start with 10+ strikeouts and no walks since 2017. The man behind the dish for that contest? Taylor Davis.

Three starts earlier, he turned in six innings of two-run ball against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Again, Davis formed the other half of the battery in that contest, as well. The longtime minor leaguer also made a memory of a lifetime against the St. Louis Cardinals, with a game-tying grand slam for his first career home run. The Cubs would win that game 6-5.

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With Victor Caratini now back in the mix, it’s feasible to see a situation where the Cubs would carry three catchers. But, at least in my mind, they could make better use of that roster spot.

Mark Zagunis is still occupying a roster spot, which good for him, but that third roster spot to Davis/Zagunis could easily go to Ian Happ. The Cubs desperately need outfield production, and why not give Happ another shot in the Majors and see if he’s fixed his issues in the minors?

Taylor Davis is a nice story, but it’s really hard to get playing time for three catchers. It worked in 2016 with Willson Contreras, David Ross and Miguel Montero because every catcher really had their role. Contreras was the everyday catcher, Ross was Jon Lester‘s personal receiver and Montero was there to mentor Contreras behind the plate.

In 2019, Contreras is by far the best catcher the team has. If Davis is catching Darvish every fifth day, then what would Caratini’s role be? With Anthony Rizzo back from the back issues that cost him the better part of a week, Caratini really lacks any type of alternative role.

Davis isn’t enough of an offensive gain to justify keeping him on the roster, especially when Caratini has hit really well this year, albeit in less than 20 at-bats before falling victim to a broken hamate bone. Contreras also looks to have regained his pre-2018 form, mashing the ball with regularity.

The idea of carrying three catchers is a good one, but, at least right now, there isn’t enough justification when it comes to such a concept. Happ will be back with the Cubs at some point, which would probably mark the end of Zagunis in the big leagues. Even with pitchers such as Pedro Strop coming back, that roster spot would still be needed, so the third catcher would not last long.

Davis may very well be back as a September call-up as a spell for Contreras, and that’s OK as the league’s new rules allow for three additional players on the big league club. But, for now, there just isn’t enough room for three catchers to make sense.