Chicago Cubs unexpected breakout star earns huge honor

The Chicago Cubs limped out of the 2024 season with lots of holes in their roster and plenty of question marks.

One of those question marks was at catcher, where sophomore Miguel Amaya, after a wildly uneven season, would be the only backstop left in the organization anywhere near major league-level.

Amaya had struggled for most of the season, both offensively and defensively. The planned mentor/upstart platoon with veteran Yan Gomes fell apart when Gomes was released due to lack of production and the young prospect was pretty much left to handle the catching load himself. And, despite finishing the year fairly strongly, the Cubs still felt that Amaya would benefit from the presence of a strong veteran co-catcher as he worked to round out some rough edges.

Enter Carson Kelly.

Carson Kelly, The Surprise Breakout Star, Gets Big-Time Recognition.

The 30-year-old free agent Kelly was signed to a 2-year, $11.5 million contract as a suitable co-starting catcher/mentor.

Known as a glove-first asset with a bit of pop, Kelly has flipped a switch this season and is absolutely killing it offensively with 7 home runs, 22 RBIs, and a .364 batting average in just 18 games played.

His work has not gone unnoticed.

The MLB has just named Kelly to their March/April Team of the Month.

The one-time journeyman catcher, who has also spent time with the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers over the course of a 10-year career, shares that all-team designation with superstar names such as Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr.

Starting off strong

After an impressive March/April, these players have been named to our Team of the Month! pic.twitter.com/vUYRmM1m37

— MLB (@MLB) May 3, 2025

Hard Work Motored The Improvement

Although Kelly’s breakout production has surprised everyone, the improvement hasn’t come mysteriously. There was a lot of hard work that went into the veteran’s offensive upgrade.

“What grinded my gears,” Kelly told The Athletic, “was I’d get a pitch I could drive and I’d hit it into the ground…

“I was in a place where I kind of needed to revamp my swing. In the past, I was bat on the shoulder, very tall, having trouble getting to the low pitch and swinging at chase breaking balls. So how do I put myself in a better position?”

Kelly’s work on weight distribution at the batter’s box allowed him to be in a better position to drive the ball in the air rather than beat it into the ground.

“I shifted the weight to hold all the energy in the back,” Kelly said. “When I get set, I have a lot of weight in that back leg and I’m trying to stay grounded.

“I got to a place where I’m hitting in the air, more hard contact, more consistent, less chasing. It was trial and error and sticking to what I wanted to do.”

The Chicago Cubs Are Happy To Have Him

The rest, as they say, is history.

Nobody believes that the veteran can keep up this rabid offensive pace– unless they truly believe he can somehow finish with 40+ home runs as a co-starting catcher– but they said the same thing 2 or 3 weeks ago and he continues to produce.

Whatever the case, the Cubs are happy to have this new and improved Kelly on their team.

“I think everybody on the team can talk about how much we love Carson,” starter Ben Brown told reporters back in early April. “He’s just showed up and been such a joy to be with, and he’s an incredible baseball player that’s gonna do some awesome things in Chicago.”