The Cubs have signed veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy, MLB Network's Jon Heyman reports. Lucroy was recently released by the Angels.
The Cubs find themselves in need of a catcher following the trade of Martin Maldonado to the Astros and then the subsequent hamstring injury suffered by regular backstop Willson Contreras. Contreras is expected to be sidelined for about a month.
As for Lucroy, 33, this season he's got a slash line of .242/.310/.371 (81 OPS+) with seven home runs in 74 games for the Angels. He spent more than three weeks on the injured list in July after a home plate collision with Astros outfield Jake Marisnick resulted in a concussion and broken nose for Lucroy. The Angels designated Lucroy for assignment shortly after his return.
For his career, the two-time All-Star owns an OPS+ of 102 across parts of 10 big-league seasons. While Lucroy was once regarded as a top defensive catcher, particularly in terms of pitch-framing, this season he's been one of the worst according to the advanced catcher metrics at Baseball Prospectus.
