This surprising defensive metric offers hope for Miguel Amaya heading into 2025

The Chicago Cubs are in need of a new starting catcher, but one of Miguel Amaya's stats from 2024 could be a good sign for the 25-year-old's future with the team.

According to Baseball Savant, Amaya ranked second in the entire league in blocks above average, a defensive statistic that gauges the ability to block balls that bounce off the dirt. Amaya finished with 12 blocks above average, second to only Red Sox backstop Danny Jensen, who is currently a free agent.

This stat isn't the end all be all, but it proves that Amaya is not a liability by any means, especially when he swings the bat like he did down the stretch. In the second half of 2024, Amaya hit the ball remarkably better than in the first half of the season, effectively salvaging him from a disastrous offensive year.

Amaya's numbers were certainly not elite, but he was not the liability he was for a time last year.

Will Amaya be the starting Catcher in 2025?

The 12 blocks above-average stat gives Amaya a good jumping off point for improvement moving forward. Let's not forget that 2024 was his first full major league season and he didn't even start out as the team's main backstop. That job belonged to Yan Gomes, who was designated for assignment by the Cubs in June amidst his own struggles.

If the team does not bring in a clear upgrade at catcher, then Amaya's role will be abundantly clear going into 2025 and he will have to be better in other areas too. Baseball Savant also shows his pitch framing and ability to throw out baserunners need significant improvement and swinging the bat more consistently throughout the year wouldn't hurt either.

Realistically, there is a good chance Amaya is going to be the starting catcher for the Cubs next year. The current free agency class only features four catchers who posted a better bWAR than Amaya in 2024, and one of them (Travis d'Arnaud) has already signed with a different team. But d'Arnaud and the others are defensive-oriented catchers who do not post good offensive numbers. This means that even if the team signs one of these guys, they would likely be splitting significant time or even potentially become a backup to Amaya. Either way, Amaya is slated for a pivotal role heading into 2025.

Truly upgrading the catching spot will be very difficult given the free agency class. The Cubs don't have a great catching prospect coming up in the minors aside from Moises Ballesteros, but reports suggest he is not equipped to handle a major league catching job. And trading for a major league-ready catcher is hard because they are such a valued commodity.

Cubs President Jed Hoyer reportedly tried to acquire Los Angeles Angels backstop Logan O'Hoppe at the 2024 trade deadline, only to fall short due to the significant price it takes to trade for a good young catcher. It will likely be a similar story if the team tries to pursue other proven catchers or even highly ranked prospects.

The Cubs did make a deal for an Angels catcher this week in the form of Matt Thaiss. Although he was a first-round pick for the Angels back in 2016, Thaiss has not lived up to that status and he was likely acquired as a depth piece for the Cubs.