The Cubs added more catching depth yesterday inking veteran catcher Jose Lobaton to a minor league deal and adding him to the 60-man roster.
Lobaton has never been much of a hitter with a lifetime .215/.293/.319 line in 1278 plate appearances between the Padres, Rays, Nationals, and Mets. He is perhaps most known for hitting a walk off home run against the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the ALDS for the Tampa Bay Rays.
His biggest value comes from his defense, at one point he was one of the best framing catchers in baseball. In 2015 he had a strike rate of 52.5 percent along with saving three runs from his framing. Although those numbers fell to 46.1 percent and zero respectively in 2018 it's also worth nothing that it was a much smaller sample size and he was catching a Mets pitching staff that ranked 10th in the NL in ERA.
It's fair to question what role Lobaton will play in the Cubs organization. They already have Willson Contreras locked in as the starting catcher along with Victor Caratini as the back up. Josh Phegley was already making a strong impression as well and the Cubs have PJ Higgins who has been in the organization for a while. He's most likely just another veteran depth piece that could give guys like Contreras and top prospect Miguel Amaya some pointers on framing.
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