Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya poised for bounce-back after injury-riddled 2025

MESA, Ariz. – Even before the Cubs’ first official spring training workout for pitchers and catchers Wednesday, backstop Miguel Amaya was at the Cubs’ Arizona complex, preparing for both the MLB season and the World Baseball Classic with Team Panama.

Amaya is coming off a season marred by injury. He appeared in just 28 games in 2025, limited by an oblique injury in late May and a sprained ankle in mid-August.

“I was strengthening everything, not just that area,” Amaya said Tuesday of his offseason. “I was strengthening my entire body, preparing myself. It's going to be a great year here with the Cubs. We’ve got a good squad.”

Amaya is one of three returning Cubs players who was sidelined by injury going into last year’s playoffs, along with Justin Steele (elbow surgery) and Cade Horton (fractured rib).

Both Amaya and Horton had relatively normal offseasons – Amaya said by early December he was feeling “100% good to go,” and Horton said he took just a week off after the Cubs’ NLDS exit. Steele has been throwing off a mound since mid-January and is on track to return early in the season.

“For me, the season began [Monday],” Amaya said. “And my mentality is, I want to win every single game this year.”

The Cubs’ catching unit was at its strongest when Amaya was healthy and splitting time with veteran Carson Kelly, the setup keeping both fresh. Amaya posted a career-best .814 OPS last year. And Kelly was putting up MVP-like numbers early in the season.

“No matter who's 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. And that's what we were doing in the beginning of the season.”

Ideally, the Cubs would have a similar setup for much of the 2026 season, with Ballesteros also mixing in.

The Cubs' pitching staff enters spring training mostly healthy. Right-hander Trent Thornton, a non-roster invitee, is behind after tearing his Achilles last August. But other than him and Steele, general manager Carter Hawkins said, the Cubs are "in a good place."

Three Cubs players were delayed by visa issues, manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday. Right-handed pitcher Javier Assad and catchers Moisés Ballesteros and Christian Bethancourt (non-roster invitee) did not arrive before the first official workout, but they were “all expected shortly,” Counsell said.