Cubs postseason hero unhappy with role during team's historic run
It’s long been said you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Apparently that’s even true in the clubhouse of teams that win the World Series for the first time in 108 years.
Miguel Montero, a veteran catcher who played a critical role in the Cubs postseason push as a reserve, expressed disappointment with his usage during the postseason during an interview with ESPN radio in Chicago on Friday, Beyond that complaint, Montero also felt the team kept him “out of the loop” in terms of his role, which seemed to be a slight against manager Joe Maddon.
“I think the toughest part for me is they never communicated with me,” Montero said on the show. “I’m a veteran guy. They talk about veteran leadership. I have 11 years in the game and two All-Star (appearances).
“I expected to be treated a little better. I was expected to get communication. Just let me know. Put me in the loop. That was the toughest part for me because I never understood what my role was going to be.”
Montero drew just two starts during the entire postseason and logged exactly four at-bats during each of the Cubs three series. As a competitor, his frustration is certainly understandable, but this role really shouldn’t have been a huge surprise given how the regular season played out.
The 33-year-old veteran served as the Cubs regular catcher early in the season, but ceded playing time to breakout rookie Willson Contreras as time went on. David Ross was in the mix too serving as Jon Lester’s personal catcher, so it seemed pretty clear who Maddon’s preferences would in the most important games.
If that was never formally communicated to Montero, then it was an error in judgment on Maddon’s part. Still, the writing had to be on the wall. Not only did Montero struggle at the plate this season, hitting just .216, he was also sidelined by a back injury and didn’t look anything close to his previous All-Star form.
To Montero’s credit, his unhappiness never really showed through his play during the postseason. In fact, he provided two of Chicago’s most important hits. The first being a pinch-hit grand slam, which propelled the Cubs to a win in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Dodgers. The other was a run-scoring single in the 10th inning of World Series Game 7 that would ultimately prove to be the winning run.
Montero may not have felt needed, but the fact he was used in those situations and came through should have been a satisfying feeling.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
