Sports

Cubs Catcher Removed From Roster After Blaming Teammate For Stolen Bases

Font Size:

The Chicago Cubs, 2016’s darlings of Major League Baseball, are facing the second half of the 2017 season in a far less enviable position than a year ago.

An uninspiring 39-38 start for the defending World Series champions, who this time last year were 50-26, has apparently led to some clubhouse frustrations that are finally seeping out to the media.

Following a 6-1 loss to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, Cubs catcher Miguel Montero, who allowed 7 stolen bases on 7 attempts, blamed starting pitcher Jake Arrieta for his inability to get baserunners out.

“It really sucked because the stolen bases go to me, and when you really look at it, the pitcher doesn’t give me any time,” said Montero according to USA Today Sports. “That’s the reason why they were running left and right today because they know he was slow to the plate. Simple as that. It’s a shame that it’s my fault because I didn’t throw anybody out.”

The team, understandably, was not thrilled about these comments, and Wednesday announced that Montero has been designated for assignment, effectively bringing his 2 1/2 year tenure to an end.

And not only is Montero out of favor at the moment, but it is also likely that he is completely wrong about the source of the Cubs’ stolen base problems.

According to Washington Post’s leaderboards sorted for stolen bases allowed, before Tuesday night Jake Arrieta had allowed eight stolen bases this season, enough to be tied for ninth most in the National League, probably not enough for Arrieta to carry the blame for seven bases in one night.

And more interestingly, there are quite a few Cubs at the top of the list. Four of the top 20 pitchers in stolen bases allowed pitch for Chicago, with Arrieta now leading the charge with 15. This now leaves two possibilities for why the club has been so ineffective at stopping baserunners.

The first is that Arrieta, John Lackey, Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks really didn’t like Montero and all conspired to make him look bad at throwing out baserunners, a fact Montero only realized Tuesday night.

The second is that Miguel Montero, who has caught 0 of 31 attempting base stealers, perhaps is just not very good at throwing out runners, gives up a lot of steals regardless of pitcher, and is now facing the consequences for underperforming and lashing out at one of the Cubs’ biggest stars.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel