Miguel Amaya

As a 23-year-old in 2022, Amaya made the jump to Double-A and produced solid numbers following offseason Tommy John surgery. In 28 games for Tennessee, he recorded an .864 OPS to go along with four home runs and 19 RBI. He didn't see any time at catcher after the surgery, but the fact that he was able to perform well at the plate is encouraging. In 2023, the Cubs will want to see Amaya hit like that over a longer stretch of games and likely also get back behind the plate. If all goes well, Amaya could work his way up to Triple-A, and an MLB debut at some point during the season isn't out of the question. Chicago had Willson Contreras locked in as the top catcher the past seven seasons but he entered free agency following the 2022 campaign, so the Cubs are looking for their backstop of the future. Yan Gomes and P.J. Higgins don't figure to be long-term solutions even if they see the bulk of the playing time early in 2023, so Amaya is worth keeping an eye on if he can leap past those two veterans.

As is the case with many of the best catching prospects, Amaya is a significantly better real-life prospect. His top traits are a plus arm, good leadership skills and a propensity to draw walks, none of which are overly helpful in standard roto leagues. Amaya shows off 55-grade raw power to left field in batting practice and logged a career-high .167 ISO while playing half his games in the pitcher-friendly park in Myrtle Beach. The 20-year-old backstop flopped in the Arizona Fall League (.224/.291/.286, 21.8 K% in 55 PA), but that wasn't surprising given his age and lack of upper-level experience. He probably won't ever hit for a high batting average, so power and playing time will have to drive his fantasy value in most formats. He is still working to improve as a pitch framer. If it all comes together, he should make it as a starting catcher who hits around .240 with a solid OBP and 15-20 home runs.