CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Montero credits a better mindset and better communication with the boss as reasons for his success this season. On Thursday, he came up big again in the Cubs' 5-4, 13-inning win over the Philadelphia Phillies -- as the 33-year-old catcher hit a game tying home run to center field in the eighth.
"I saw the center fielder looking at the ball like he was under it and I was like 'Oh my god he's going to catch it,'" Montero recalled after the game. "Next thing I know the ball is in the basket. 'Basket. Amazing basket!'"
He continued with a smile: "When I hit, but when I'm catching I hate [the basket]."
It was Montero's third home run as he went 1-for-3, raising his batting average to .385. That's quite the start to his season considering he hit just .216 last year. But even after struggling in 2016, he came up big in the postseason. Remember his grand slam in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers? Then he had a huge RBI single in the 10th inning of Game 7 of the World Series to give the Cubs an insurance run.
"I just like those situations," Montero explained. "I like to be put on the spot. If I fail, it's part of the game. I'm not afraid to fail."
What got to Montero last year wasn't failing, it was a perceived lack of communication between him and his manager, Joe Maddon. It culminated in some harsh words said on the radio about Maddon on the day the Cubs celebrated their title in November. A spring training dinner set things right and the two have been on the same page ever since.
"I feel great playing the way they are playing me," Montero said. "If I play I'm excited to play and if I'm not I'm excited to help the team someway, somehow.
"The mindset is just different this year. Joe has been doing a great job letting me know when I'm playing."
Montero says Maddon lets him know "three days in advance" when he's playing and he's also been rewarded for his hot start. Most backups don't play in back-to-back games, let alone a day game after a night game, but Montero has done that more than once already this year -- and it's paying off.
"I've been coming through and failing," Montero said of his time with the Cubs. "On and off. Just try to do my best every time I go out there.
"Hopefully the next step is I throw somebody out."
No one has ever said Montero can't be self-deprecating as he has had his issues -- including on Thursday -- throwing runners out. His bat overshadowed everything else though as he helped the Cubs win a sloppy game. If not for his clutch hit the focus would have been on veterans Jon Jay and Ben Zobrist getting picked off bases or Addison Russell making a big error.
Montero came out of the game after the home run leading to speculation he injured himself on his trot around the bases. Sometimes it's hard to tell, considering his lack of overall speed and athleticism, but in this case Maddon just wanted to make a change behind the plate.
"I slowed down," he said. "I took off really quick and slowed down there. I never thought the ball was going to go out."
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