BCB After Dark: A catching conundrum

The late-night/early-morning spot for Cubs fans asks who should be catching in Miguel Amaya’s absence.

We’re open for business here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so glad you decided to stop by. There’s no cover charge this evening. Tell us if you need anything. The hostess can seat you know. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

The Cubs beat the Rockies tonight, 4-3 in 11 innings, thanks mostly to the two rookies: Matt Shaw and Cade Horton. It was Shaw’s first career walk-off hit and while Horton didn’t get the win, he did pick up his first career quality start. Their future’s so bright, they gotta wear shades.

Last night I asked you what the Cubs should do with Ben Brown. Forty-eight percent of you think that Brown should stay in the rotation, either because you think he’ll turn things around or because there aren’t any better options. Another 44 percent feel that tonight’s winner, Chris Flexen, would be better than Brown in the rotation. The rest want the Cubs to pick someone else to start from Iowa.

On Tuesday evenings, I don’t normally write about the movies. But I always have time for jazz, so those of you who skip that can do so now. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Here’s trumpeter Freddie Hubbard playing on Late Night with David Letterman and the World’s Most Dangerous Band in 1984. This is “First Light.”

Welcome back everyone who skips the music.

The Cubs got some bad news today.

So the good news is the Cubs still have Carson Kelly and he’s been terrific all season long. Catchers are like kidneys. You want two good ones but you can survive on just one good one. The Cubs still have one good kidney. But because Craig Counsell isn’t Leo Durocher and Kelly isn’t Randy Hundley, the Cubs need at least one backup catcher to fill on one or two games a week.

One of the Cubs’ top prospects is a catcher and he even got a cup of coffee with the team last week when Ian Happ was injured. But Moisés Ballesteros was only up to DH and the Cubs didn’t let him catch. So when Amaya went down, the Cubs called on Reese McGuire to fill in when Kelly couldn’t answer the bell.

McGuire got thrown into the fire when Kelly came up ill and he responded with a two-home run game against Cincinnati on Sunday. But we need to assume that game was a fluke until proven otherwise, since there is very little in McGuire’s career to indicate that he’s some sort of big power hitter. He’s a career journeyman for a reason.

One guy who is expected to hit is Ballesteros. Although he was only 3 for 16 with two walks in his brief stint in the majors, he is hitting .350/.411/.490 with four home runs in 39 games for Iowa. Despite the results, Ballesteros did not look overmatched at the plate and you’d have to assume that he’d start pounding out line drives to all fields once he felt comfortable in the majors.

Of course, the other issue is Ballesteros’ defensive skills behind the plate. While the Cubs insist he’s improving (and that’s a hard thing for outside observers to really judge), Ballesteros is considered to be a below-average defensive catcher.

Counsell and Cubs team president Jed Hoyer both said today that calling up Ballesteros is not under consideration at the moment. Both men stressed that Ballesteros needed more time and more reps behind the plate before he was ready to catch and that he wouldn’t get those chances backing up Kelly. In Iowa, he can catch two out of every three games.

But that’s the Cubs’ decision. What’s your decision? The Cubs could stay the course with McGuire backing up Kelly for the next 4-to-6 weeks. Or they release McGuire and let Ballesteros get his experience in the majors. Maybe McGuire would sign a minor league deal with the Cubs afterwards. That’s what happened two weeks ago, but that decision would be up to McGuire.

The final option would be to call up Ballesteros to be a third catcher, releasing Justin Turner or Vidal Bruján, presumably. In such a situation, Ballesteros really wouldn’t be getting many reps behind the plate, but his bat would be able to contribute as a DH and pinch hitter. Plus he might start behind the plate four or five times before Amaya returns. Maybe he’d get behind the plate in a few games late after a pinch runner.

So if you ran the Cubs, what would you do?

Thank you for stopping by tonight. We hope you’ve had a pleasant evening. Please get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for more. BCB After Dark.