Last night Cubs catcher Willson Contreras was placed on the injured list with a strained muscle in his right foot. That injury inspired the Cubs to go out and get another catcher. They acquired Martín Maldonado in a trade with Kansas City in exchange for lefty Mike Montgomery, in a deal that was announced after the Cubs loss to the Reds.
Maldonado, 32, was a Gold Glove winner in 2017 with the Angels. At the moment he’s hitting .227 with six homers and 17 RBIs in 74 games. Obviously, though, defense is his calling card, as he’s a .220 career hitter with 57 homers and 210 RBIs in 686 games.
"It was something we wanted to quickly finalize once it became clear Willson was going to miss some time," Cubs president Theo Epstein said after Chicago's 6-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. "He's an established catcher in this league who does a lot of great things behind the plate. He can really receive. He can really throw. He's handled some of the best pitchers in the game."
Montgomery, 30, was on the mound when Kris Bryant pounced on a Michael Martinez ground ball and threw to first baseman Anthony Rizzo to secure the final out of the 2016 season. It was his first career save and the highlight of his Cubs tenure, which started that season. Montgomery confirmed to ESPN that he asked to be traded early this season, as he was looking to move on to the next stage of his career.
"From a career perspective, looking at how it was taking shape, I thought I was best suited to be a starter," Montgomery said.
He started 19 games for the Cubs in 2018, but with Cole Hamels,Tyler Chatwood and a healthy Yu Darvish on the roster, he had little opportunity this year.
"I understood, from who they had here, that might not happen for me," Montgomery said.
The Cubs attempted to appease him, but a deal took months to happen and came about strictly on a need basis after Contreras went down.
