Tag / Miguel Montero

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Position Players Pitching

In the mid-2010s, putting in a position player to pitch in an effort to save overworked bullpens became more popular than ever before in the history of Major League Baseball.  Starting in 2023, rules changes restricted position players from pitching unless their team is leading by ten or more runs in the 9th inning, their team is losing by eight or more runs at any time, or the game is in extra innings.  This weekend, i saw my tenth eighth position player pitch, so it seemed like a good time to review.

5/6/2017
With a depleted bullpen and down by five against the Yankees, Joe Maddon turned to catcher Miguel Montero to pitch the final inning.  Montero’s inning could generously be called effectively wild, as he walked two and sailed one pitch over Chris Carter’s head but managed to escape without giving up a run.  Maddon’s notion to avoid going back to his bullpen proved prescient, as the following night the two teams went 18 innings, with the Cubs losing by one.

7/6/2017
Exactly two months later, Maddon again turned to his bench rather than his bullpen as the Brewers held a nine-run lead heading into the 9th inning.  This time he turned to veteran outfielder Jon Jay, who gave up just one hit while retiring the Brewers on just 16 pitches.

6/22/2019
Wrigley Field was again the stage for our next installment of position players pitching, as catcher Victor Caratini took the mound for the 9th inning with the Cubs down 10-1 to the Mets.  He did his part, throwing a 1-2-3 inning and giving the Cubs a chance to mount a comeback in the bottom of the 9th.  The rally fell short, however, as the Cubs lost 10-2.

8/17/2021
We move to the South Side for our next occurrence, this time for an opponent.  With the White Sox leading the A’s 9-0, first baseman Mitch Moreland came out to face the White Sox in the bottom of the 8th.  Facing the bottom of the batting order, Moreland gave up a single to Danny Mendick en route to a scoreless outing.

9/16/2021
Nearly a month later, the shoe was on the other foot as the White Sox were losing 9-3 to the Angels at Guaranteed Rate Field.  With two outs in the top of the 9th, Rick Renteria picks Romy Gonzalez to nail down the final out.  With Shohei Ohtani on first base, Gonzalez strikes out Max Stassi on four pitches to end the inning.

7/9/2022
With pitching in his genes, Kody Clemens took the mound for the bottom of the 8th with his Tigers trailing the White Sox 8-0.  Clemens did what none of his fellow Tigers could accomplish that day, giving up no hits and retiring the side on only fourteen pitches.

4/3/2023
The Giants had a big 7-3 lead against the White Sox heading into the 9th inning when Jose Ruiz took the mound looking to hold the line.  Instead, he faced six batters, giving up five runs on two home runs while only getting a single out.  Down by nine, rookie manager Pedro Grifol brought in infielder Hanser Alberto to mop up.  He gave up two hits but wrapped up the inning without giving up a run.

5/1/2025
With the White Sox holding a surprising 8-0 lead over the Brewers, Jake Bauers, who started the game in left field, came in to pitch the bottom of the 8th.  He quickly put down the White Sox, getting a 1-2-3 inning on just ten pitches.

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And Then There Was One

Willson Contreras’ Cubs career officially came to an end Wednesday when the free agent catcher signed a five-year contract with the Cardinals.  His departure leaves Kyle Hendricks as the last remaining member of the 2016 World Series champions to play for the North Siders.

Contreras first joined the Cub organization in 2009 as a teenaged international free agent.  He made his major league debut as a pinch runner on June 17, 2016 and, two days later, became the 30th player in modern MLB history to hit a home run on the first pitch of his first major league at bat.  Contreras made it on to the post-season roster and helped the Cubs end their 108-year title drought.

Contreras became the starting catcher in 2017 following the retirement of David Ross and the implosion of Miguel Montero’s Cub career in June.  In 2018, Contreras was elected to his first All Star team.  He replicated that feat in 2019 and 2022.

Contreras’ numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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Two Sides Of The Same Town

cws-chiFollowing last week’s trade deadline deals, Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrel became the 36th and 37th people I’ve seen play in person for both the Cubs and the White Sox.  With the first round of crosstown kicking off this afternoon at Wrigley, here’s a look at those players, in alphabetical order.

David Aardsma

After posting a decent season with the Cubs in 2006, Aardsma was traded to the White Sox for Neal Cotts.  Aardsma lasted one season with the Sox, where he was unable to duplicate his success from the year before.

Jason Bere

Drafted by the White Sox in the 36th round in 1990, Bere debuted with the big league club in 1993, finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting.  After an All Star selection in 1994, injuries marred the remainder of his tenure on the South Side, which ended in 1998.  He resurfaced with the Cubs in 2001 and had a decent season, but he went 1-10 in 2002 before being let go.

Emilio Bonifacio

Bonifacio spent back-to-back partial seasons in Chicago, first for the Cubs in 2014 after signing as a free agent, where he played decently enough to be flipped at the trade deadline, along with James Russell, to the Braves for a young catching prospect by the name of Victor Caratini.  He returned to Chicago in 2015, signing with the White Sox, where he he did not do well at all, hitting .167 in 47 games before being released in August.

Welington Castillo

Debuting with the Cubs in 2010, Castillo spent time behind the plate for the Cubs until May of 2015, when, having been replaced in the starting lineup by Miguel Montero, he was flipped to the Mariners.  He returned to Chicago in 2018 after signing with the White Sox as a free agent.  On May 24th of that season, he was suspended 80 games for a violation of the PED policy.  The White Sox then cut bait following the 2019 season, shipping him off to the Rangers.

Neal Cotts

Acquired by the White Sox in the Billy Koch trade, he debuted with the team in 2003.  He was a key contributor in the bullpen during the 2005 championship season, and was the only relief pitcher to appear in all 3 rounds of the playoffs that season.  Following the 2006 season, he was traded to the Cubs for David Aardsma, and he spent the next 3 injury filled seasons on the North Side.

Scott Eyre

Joining the White Sox organization in a 1994 trade with the Rangers, he debuted with the big league team in 1997.  He split the next 4 seasons between the rotation and the bullpen, not to mention between Chicago and Charlotte, before being moved to the Blue Jays following the 2000 ALDS loss to the Mariners.  He joined the Cubs as a free agent for the 2006 season and enjoyed 2 seasons of relative success, before falling apart in 2008, when he was traded to the Phillies.

Kosuke Fukudome Continue reading →

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By The Numbers – 47

In 1929, uniform numbers appeared on the back of baseball jerseys for the first time, thanks to the Indians and the Yankees.  By 1937, numbers finally appeared across all uniforms, both home and away, across both major leagues.  Since that time, 81 distinct numbers have been worn by members of the White Sox, while the Cubs boast 76.

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #47.  73 players have donned #47 while playing in Chicago, 38 for the White Sox and 35 for the Cubs.

The somewhat unfortunately named Rusty Kuntz spent parts of 5 seasons with the White Sox, wearing #47 the entire time.  He was selected by the White Sox in the 11th round of the 1977 draft and made his major league debut 2 years later as a September call-up in 1979, starting in left field and going 0-3 in a 4-3 victory over the Tigers en route to 5 appearances and an anemic .091 average.  Kuntz split time between Triple A Iowa and Chicago in 1980, with slightly better results, before spending the entire strike-shortened 1981 season with the White Sox, appearing in 67 games and batting .255 in a mere 55 at bats.  Both 1982 and 1983 saw Kuntz back splitting time between Triple A and Chicago, until he was finally traded to the Twins for a minor leaguer.

Catcher Miguel Montero wore #47 during his 2 1/2 years on the North side.  He had a few highlights, including his Game One grand slam in the 2016 NLCS against the Dodgers to give the Cubs the win.  His tenure with the Cubs came to an abrupt end the following June when, after the Nationals stole 7 bases in one game to leave him at 0-31 at nabbing would-be base stealers for the season, he placed the blame on the pitching staff.  The next day, he was designated for assignment.

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LCS Batting Leaders

baseballs2The Cubs prepare to make their third straight NLCS appearance tonight in Los Angeles, in a rematch of last year’s battle against the Dodgers, which the Cubs won in 6 games.  Let’s look at the offensive leaders in the now 9 LCS games I’ve attended, games 1, 6, and 7 of the 2003 NLCS, games 1 and 2 of the 2005 ALCS, games 3 and 4 of the 2015 NLCS, and games 1 and 6 of the 2016 NLCS.

Home Runs

Name Total
Daniel Murphy 2
Miguel Cabrera 2
Moises Alou 2
20 tied with 1

Hits

Name Total
Daniel Murphy 6
Juan Pierre 6
Dexter Fowler 6
Luis Castillo 5
Jeff Conine 5

Runs

Name Total
Daniel Murphy 4
Juan Pierre 4
Miguel Cabrera 4
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That Escalated Quickly

Yesterday was a rough day for Miguel Montero.  The Cub catcher was on the hot seat after the Nationals stole 7 bases during their 6-1 victory Tuesday night, leaving him at 0-31 at nabbing would-be base stealers for the season.  When questioned after the game, Montero placed the blame squarely on starting pitcher Jake Arrieta, saying, “It really sucks because the stolen bases go on me.  When you really look at it, the pitcher doesn’t give me any time.  It’s just like: ‘Yeah, OK, Miggy can’t throw nobody out.’ Yeah, but my pitchers don’t hold anybody on.  It’s tough, because it doesn’t matter how much work I put in.  If I don’t get a chance to throw, that’s the reason why they were running left and right today, because they know he was slow to the plate. Simple as that. It’s a shame that it’s my fault because I didn’t throw anybody out.”

Those comments did not go over well in Cub-land.  Anthony Rizzo, unofficial team captain, appeared on ESPN 1000 this morning and called out Montero as being selfish, noting that Willson Contreras has no issues throwing runners out.  A few hours later, Montero’s time with the Cubs had come to an end, having been designated for assignment.  Given the $7 million he is owed for the remainder of the season, a trade seems unlikely.

Montero had a few highlights in his 2 1/2 years on the North side, including his Game One grand slam in the NLCS last year against the Dodgers to give the Cubs the win.  Will he catch on somewhere else?  Or is this the end of the road for the former all star catcher?  We’ll likely find out over the next few weeks.

Montero’s numbers in a Cub uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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Pitching In

With an already-taxed bullpen and a starting pitcher that lasted 1/3 of an inning, Cubs manager Joe Maddon turned to catcher Miguel Montero to pitch the final frame of last night’s blowout loss to the Yankees.  Somehow, despite attending 842 major league baseball games prior to last night, this was the first time I had personally witnessed a position player taking the mound.

While Montero was a little shaky, walking two batters and nearly hitting one, he did finish as the only Cub pitcher of the night to not give up a run.

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Winter Dealings

Samardzija5 months ago, the Cubs shipped pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the A’s.  As of yesterday, both were back in Chicago, as Hammel signed a free agent deal to rejoin the Cubs and Samardzija was traded to the White Sox.  The south siders also bolstered their bullpen, signing free agent closer David Robertson, late of the Yankees, while the Cubs looked to improve behind the plate by acquiring catcher Miguel Montero from the Diamondbacks.

Jeff Samardzija comes to the White Sox, along with minor league pitcher Michael Ynoa, in exchange for Marcus Semien, Chris Bassitt, Josh Phegley and minor league first baseman Rangel Ravelo.  Samardzija will slide in to the White Sox rotation between ace Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, giving the Sox a rotation that should match up with any other in the American League.

At the other end of the game, David Robertson, who has agreed to a 4-year, $46 million deal pending a physical, should bolster a bullpen that was one of the worst in the game this past season.  By having a lock down closer in place, along with the earlier signing of Zach Duke, the returning younger members of the bullpen should find themselves in less stressful and better defined positions, which should enable them to be more successful.

On the north side of town, Continue reading →