Chicago Cubs lose a top prospect for entire 2022 season to Tommy John surgery
By Josh Hill
The Chicago Cubs were dealt a huge blow on Tuesday with the loss of a top prospect for the 2022 season.
As if things couldn’t get worse for the Chicago Cubs, the rebuild that fans are dreading having to sit through just hit a roadblock.
According to MLB.com Cubs beat writer Jordan Bastian, the Cubs are expected to be without top catching prospect Miguel Amaya for the entire 2022 season.
Amaya missed the last part of this most recent season with a forearm strain, but now the most dreaded diagnosis in baseball has been handed down by doctors. Amaya is believed to need Tommy John surgery.
“Cubs believe that Tommy John surgery is imminent for catching prospect Miguel Amaya, per multiple sources. Timetable TBD,” Bastian reported on Tuesday. “[He] missed last few months of 2021 season with what was initially described as a right forearm strain.”
Amaya is ranked as the fourth-best prospect in the Cubs farm system according to MLB Pipeline. He was projected to be a 2022 callup and a major part of Chicago’s push toward rebuilding in the post-Bryant/Rizzo era.
Now the Cubs will have to wait until at least 2023 to see their young catching prospect begin to make his mark.
It’s not all bad news for Cubs prospects getting some big league experience in 2022. Pitcher Brailyn Marquez had already been called up and outfielder Brennen Davis is the Cubs top prospect in their farm system and expected to make the leap from AAA to MLB this year.
Losing Amaya is a blow, but nothing about the Cubs rebuild was going to result in instant success. Unfortunately for fans, there’s plenty of time in what is likely to be a long road to building the team back up into a contender for Amaya to make his return next season — hopefully to a young team ready to prove the doubters wrong.