Am I missing something with Maldonado? He has always been a pretty below average hitter from what I've seen, but it seems like he is much better than what his stats suggest. Even with us he only has a .655 OPS, but I feel like he has hit some crucial home runs. Is it downgraded expectations vs reality or what? Idk But he is so valuable with his ability to snipe runners trying to steal.
I feel the same way too. Maybe we’re trained to expect abysmal offense when we get a player with a “great defense / bad offense” scouting report after all those years with Adam Everett
Brad Ausmus also hit playoff HR's. It happens... sometimes when pressure goes up and every pitch/AB is totally scrutinized (as is playoff baseball), some hitters (in small samples) square up just a little bit better due to a multitude of factors. On the flip side, pitchers who normally have pin-point control during the season come in and can't find the plate. Lastly, the Astros were pretty mediocre at home during the regular season. They've now won 9 out of 10 playoff games at MMP.
It feels like we have another Ausmus, although I don't seem to remember Ausmus having the proclivity to throw out runners like this dude. I guess his offense isn't good, but he doesn't feel like a burden when he''s in the lineup.
Yeah I was at the 18 inning game when Ausmus just cleared the yellow line on his game tying home run. I think Berkman also hit a grand slam in the 8th but obviously that's no outlier for him. I guess what I was trying to say is I really like the pickup even tho when we got Maldonado I was like "ehhh whatever."
Ausmus threw out runners... but his ability to block the plate, and work with the pitchers on strategy, is what won him gold gloves. Underrated tidbit from the 2005 NLCS. Ausmus/Oswalt devised a pitching gameplan vs the Cardinals that had Oswalt pitching completely different towards their hitters vs what he was doing in the regular season. Granted, they sort of had to after the Cardinals had 4 years of experience against him, and touched him up pretty good in the 2004 NLCS. He abandoned the curve ball and when almost exclusively with 4 seam and 2 seam fastballs... located perfectly. Cardinals kept looking/waiting for the curve that never came.
It's exactly this. If he was our primary catcher, over 6 months you would gain a full appreciation for what a terrible hitter he is. He's a .220 hitter, with minimal plate discipline who will occasionally go deep. He's catcher Jake Marisnick. But he has a rifle, and pitchers seem to like throwing to him. I've personally always been OK with an all glove catcher, provided they aren't expensive, and the lineup around them is stacked. Still, he feels like more of a great backup than a good starter.
I have created a request for this. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.php...l-baseball-thread-in-the-astros-forum.293663/
Strange that they didn't put the game 5 game winning hit... guess they were just focusing on all the HR's. He's a big game player, for sure. Although some will come here and argue there's no such thing as being "clutch"... this is exactly the type of perceived elevation in performance that made Jeter so revered.
