Joe Girardi noticed how Willson Contreras kept bouncing around at Wrigley Field. It didn’t matter that it was early May, the “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast had stretched into Monday morning and the Cubs would immediately head to O’Hare International Airport afterward to fly to Denver for a game at Coors Field that night.
Girardi understood the grind. The New York Yankees manager had once been an All-Star catcher for the Cubs, lasting 15 seasons in the big leagues – far longer than any kid from Peoria and Northwestern could have dreamed – because of his effort, intensity and intelligence.
“That’s the most energetic catcher I’ve ever seen play 18 innings,” Girardi said after watching Contreras catch eight different pitchers in a 5-4 loss that lasted 6 hours and 5 minutes. “I give that kid a lot of credit. He’s blocking balls, he’s all over, smiling, playing his rear end off.”
That’s why the Cubs had to save Contreras from himself and package catcher Alex Avila with lefty reliever Justin Wilson in that trade-deadline deal with the Detroit Tigers.
“Willson plays like the Energizer Bunny,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “We all know that. But everyone has their limits. And I do think we have to be very careful not to wear him down – to make sure he’s still fresh during the pennant race.
“We risked him playing too much without going out and making a move like this.”
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The reinforcements will arrive just in time for a pivotal six-game homestand that begins Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks and features a potential first-round playoff preview this weekend against the Washington Nationals.
Contreras is only 25 years old and in the middle of his first full season in The Show. But he has already earned a World Series ring and established himself as one of the organization’s most dynamic players.
Since Miguel Montero talked his way off the team with that epic rant at Nationals Park on June 27, manager Joe Maddon started rookie Victor Caratini only four times at catcher. Caratini will return to Triple-A Iowa – where he had been hitting .341 with a .919 OPS in 69 games – to stay sharp for a September call-up and in case of an October emergency.
“Caratini is a really good prospect,” Hoyer said. “He’s going to be a really good player. But we felt like the right thing to do for our pitching staff, for Willson, for the clubhouse was to add a veteran guy. That way, we have some depth at that position.
“With Victor going back to Iowa, we now have three catchers that we believe in, and I think that depth is really important as you go down the stretch. It really is important for Joe to get a veteran catcher that he really feels comfortable playing a lot.”
Avila will be a free agent after this season and the Cubs had some questions about his defense as they did background work on several targets behind the plate. But Avila worked with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Michael Fulmer in Detroit.
Avila made an All-Star team in 2011, the beginning of a run where the Tigers won four straight division titles and he played in eight postseason series. Avila is a left-handed hitter who can crush right-handed pitching, putting up 11 homers and an .869 overall OPS in 77 games this season.
Contreras is so entertaining to watch every night, but the Cubs are built to outlast and overwhelm the rest of the National League Central with their depth and versatility over the course of the 162-game marathon.
“We’ve been playing better, but we still have another level within us,” Maddon said. “Alex is not a backup catcher. He’s going to be serving as one, in a sense, but he’s not that. This guy is a regular, everyday, solid major-league catcher that we get to work in. This way, neither one’s going to be tired by the end of the year.”