The Cubs dropped their opener to the Rangers and lost their ace starting pitcher to a hamstring injury on Thursday, and they were active on the transaction wire on Friday—though not to find a replacement for Justin Steele. Instead, they were adding depth to their catching spot, signing former Reds catcher Curt Casali to serve as a defensive backup for Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya.
Casali will start the year in Triple-A Iowa. He spent Spring Training with the Marlins, but went 1-for-17 in nine games and did not make the major-league roster for Florida and was granted his release. The Cubs signed him to a minor-league deal.
Casali was not brought to the Cubs for his bat, however. He is a career .220 hitter, with a .314 on-base percentage. At 35, Casali is nearing the end of his career, and has never played in more than 84 games in his 10 major-league seasons, spent with four different teams.
For his career, Casali has a WAR of 6.6, respectable for a non-hitter, and has 19 career defensive runs saved, per Fan Graphs.
Curt Casali an Established Veteran Presence
Casali is familiar with bouncing between the minors and big leagues. He spent six games with Triple-A Louisville last year while playing for the Reds, on a rehab assignment. He had stints with Sacramento and Tacoma of the Pacific Coast League in 2022, when he split the year between the Giants and Mariners.
As part of what now figures to be a three-man catching grouping, Casali figures to be a good veteran influence and chemistry guy. When he was with the Reds last year, he spoke about the bond he had with the team’s other catchers, Tyler Stephenson and Luke Maile.
“I think that way is pretty standard across the board, maybe not as close [as here],” Casali said, per MLB.com. “But catchers generally stick together. We’re spending time with each other and the catching coach is only responsible for a handful of guys as opposed to an infield or outfield coach, who has more players to deal with.
“It can become close and more intimate quicker. That is definitely a positive because there aren’t guys to fight for reps with.”
Cubs Dealing With Justin Steele Injury
Of course, the big question for the Cubs, transaction-wise, is whether the team will do anything to attempt to replace ace lefty Justin Steele, who is out with a hamstring injury suffered in the opener. For now, at least, the Cubs will turn to their depth pieces to fill in for Steele. The team called up Ben Brown to take Steele’s place.
Still, there must be some regret among the team’s decision-makers that there was not effort into signing a top starter like Jordan Montgomery before he signed with the Diamondbacks. It does not help, either, that No. 2 starter Jameson Taillon is out, too.
The hope is that Steele will only miss two or three starts. Hamstrings, though, are notoriously tricky to diagnose.
“It’s hard to tell right now since it’s so soon after it happened,” Steele told reporters after the game. “Spirits are high. It was good to get out there and get the first one under your belt — opening day, all the jitters and everything. I was definitely nervous today leading up to the outing so it was good to feel all those emotions and get back out there and get on the horse again and have a speedy recovery from this.”
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Cubs Add 10-Year Veteran After Disappointing Opening Day