Wait, Who's Going To Be The Cubs Backup Catcher?

When the Chicago Cubs signed catcher Chris Gimenez to a minor-league deal some fans immediately made the connection to Yu Darvish. See, when both were with the Texas Rangers, Gimenez caught Darvish and both are close friends. Then, Darvish signed with the Cubs, so Gimenez is guaranteed to be the backup catcher, right? Not so fast. The following isn't new, as Joe Maddon talked about the dynamic of who will catch Darvish this season, with Gimenez on board previously having experience with the Japanese star. Gimenez isn't here just to catch Darvish. From Cubs.com on Feb. 15.

"I think that's been overplayed a lot," Maddon said of the Gimenez-Darvish connection. "Of course, 'Gimmy' might catch him but Willson is our guy, Willson's our catcher, and I want Willson to catch him. It's never been our plan to match him up exclusively with 'Gimmy.'"

Willson Contreras has certainly established himself as one of the best catchers in the game and the lineup does suffer without him. So in that respect it makes sense to want to have Contreras behind the plate and feel comfortable with all five of the Cubs starting pitchers. That Maddon quote led to this though, which really isn't set in stone. Over at NBC Sports Chicago, Vinnie Duber, wrote about three questions answered and three questions unanswered through the first couple weeks of spring training for the Cubs. Duber's third answered question in his article says, "It looks like Victor Caratini will be the backup catcher." Here's the explanation.

But Joe Maddon threw some cold water on the idea that Gimenez would be the guy working with Darvish on a regular basis, and it might have signaled that Gimenez, a nine-year veteran who hit .220 in 74 games with the Minnesota Twins last season, won’t even make the Opening Day roster. Maddon pointed out that Contreras is the Cubs’ catcher and that it’ll be Contreras catching Darvish. The two already worked together during bullpen sessions early in spring training. So with Gimenez’s main contribution — experience catching Darvish — seemingly unnecessary, wouldn’t it make sense that Victor Caratini will be backing up Contreras? The Cubs like Caratini, he’s been working with Contreras a lot, and he was decent enough at the plate in limited big league time last season, getting 15 hits and reaching base at a .333 clip in 66 plate appearances.

See, the biggest point that works in the favor of Gimenez and against Victor Caratini is age. Maddon loves his backup catcher to be your classic veteran presence in the clubhouse, who can spread his wisdom to other players. We saw that last year, when the Cubs went out and traded for Alex Avila despite already having Caratini up for six weeks. Ryan Davis of FanRag Sports wrote a great article on what the Cubs can expect from Gimenez after he spoke to some of the catcher's former Minnesota Twins teammates. Here's just a small glimpse of what Gimenez means to a team.

Given that Gimenez hasn’t finished a season on a team with fewer than 85 wins since 2011, it’s fair to say he is what many in baseball would call a “winning player.” “He was one of the guys who don’t like to lose,” said pitcher Ervin Santana. “He just tries to do everything so that we can win the game. Even though he doesn’t play every day, in the dugout he was pushing everybody. “In the clubhouse, he always motivates everybody. Even though he doesn’t play every day, he was one of the leaders to look up to.”

Make sure you read the entire story here, which includes some praise for Gimenez from Joe Mauer as well. Also, while Gimenez isn't a big offensive threat, he has put up a .344 OBP against left-handed pitching during the last three seasons. Plus, Caratini would be better off getting regular playing time at Triple-A Iowa rather than sitting on the bench in the Majors and maybe getting a start once a week. So no, one of the answered questions for the Cubs isn't that Caratini looks like he'll be the backup catcher.