Today's stats (5/22) POS LAST First________OBP SLG OPS+ 2B ALTUVE, Jose_______462 333 126 (low numbers - big move) 3B BREGMAN, Alex____328 362 91 DH ALVAREZ, Yordan___387 571 161 1B ABREU, Jose_________278 256 44 RF TUCKER, Kyle________358 460 124 (? move too big) SS PENA, Jeremy________289 419 92 CF MEYERS, Jake________349 404 108 LF McCORMICK, Chas__329 431 108 C MALDONADO, Martin_288 295 62
Jake Meyers chase rate, barrel rate, and walk rate have all moved into above league average territory. His xOBP (.324) and xSLG (.410) are right at league average. He is still striking out more than one would like, but even that has been trending towards league average. He is usually having really good AB's. All of these numbers would be even higher if you cut it off to when he started playing regularly. His sprint speed continues to be elite at the 94th percentile. His exit velocity is among the worst in the league now at only 85 MPH. I don't know if it's directly correlated to the shoulder injury, but his EV has never recovered to his rookie season at 89.5. You can still succeed at that EV as long as you are making the right kinds of contact, running fast and walking, but at this point the thump he had when he first came up isn't quite there and likely limits the sky high ceiling he once had. Still hard to say too much with confidence, he's shown these flashes before and then he will regress into an ugly stretch. Maybe that's just the player he is and the ups and downs are gonna be permanent. All said, through the ups and downs he is having a really good season and currently on pace for a 3-4 WAR season. Slightly above average offense and top flight defense. Unlike his EV, his arm strength has recovered to his rookie season, which seems weird.
Average EV isn't all that meaningful, imo. A guy could average 88-92 on everything he hits and thus carry a high average EV in spite of generally making mediocre contact. Things like barrel% and sweet spot% are much more meaningful and Jake is trending up bigtime to go along with much better swing decisions.
Maldy has a 0.350 OBP and 0.740 OPS this month. The Astros haven't given up more than 4 runs in any of his starts this May. They are 11-2 when he starts this month. And Astros fans hate him.
Why do you think, as valuable as you believe Maldy is, the Astros have not offered him a new contract? If he's as good as his pumpers believe, it would be foolish not to bring him back again for peanuts.
I've been a big Maldy fan since he's been here, and was one of his biggest defender last season. For me, the issue is that Diaz has shown the potential to be a difference maker and Baker isn't given him any run when the 3 positions he can play has been underperforming by a lot, and we are playing an old injury plagued Maldy almost every day. Diaz should play more if nothing more than rest for Maldy. Diaz can also play first base where Abreu has been stinking up the joint. We have also been trotting out Hensley as a DH. WTF?
Because he's old and coming off surgery and was considering retirement after last season and almost certainly will retire after this one? What is the purpose of offering him a new contract now? They can easily re-sign him after the season if they want to and he wants to keep playing. He's not going anywhere else to play one more year, and the Astros value him more than a new random team would, so there's no reason to worry about it now. They also have a year to figure out if Diaz or Lee are the future of the position and can developing into what they want in a catcher. Edit: it also leaves them options to go after someone like Salvy who has both the catching skills they value and is an elite hitter. If they get him during this season, they can more easily transition out of Maldy next year without losing the skills they and the pitchers clearly value and they solve their catcher position for several more years. There's literally no benefit to offering him a contract right now, even if they do want to keep him.
Where did you read that he was considering retirement last season? I haven't seen anything about that, and his pouting over the Astros pursuing another catcher in the off-season would indicate that he still very much wants to play. As for why now, because that's what they've done in the past. They agreed to his last contract in April of 21, but there has been no discussion or rumors whatsoever of him signing another deal and instead it's been treated as a foregone conclusion that this is last year with the team. Also, if he's such a bargain with how much value he provides in ways that are not quantifiable, why would it necessarily be so easy for them to reign Maldy? Do you think the Astros are the only team capable of noticing the value Maldy provides? Why risk a bidding war of Maldy's services when you can sign him now?
It came up last year after the revelations of his groin injury that he played through (I can't find it offhand though - but it talked about here, I believe). He also didn't really pout about another catcher - he was just disappointed. Here's what he said: Martin Maldonado played through a sports hernia and a broken hand for the latter part of the 2022 season, toughing it out to remain on the field and help the Astros win a championship. As a result, Maldonado admitted that he “felt a little sad” that the Astros looked at Willson Contreras and other available catchers this offseason. “We just won the World Series and I felt like I sacrificed my whole body playing through injuries for the team….But I understand the business,” Maldonado told The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome and other reporters. “I know as an owner, as a front office, they’re going to try to always get the best position players available and help the team get better. Willson was the best free-agent catcher out there.” That doesn't seem like a super-unreasonable thing to feel and he accepted that the Astros were trying to do what was best for the team. His value is specifically to the Astros. Their pitchers love him. Whatever he does behind the scenes with prep work is something the Astros specifically value. He doesn't have that history and credibility anywhere else. Remember, Lunhow let him go when he wanted to remain here and then realized his value and brought him back. He's nearing the end of his career, whenever that might be, and it's unlikely he has much interest in starting over for a new organization at age 36 or 37 without the support he has in the Astros' organization. I could be wrong, but at this point in career, I don't see any serious options for Maldy besides Astros or retirement. As of now, the player, manager, pitchers, and organization all love this partnership. But if Dusty retires, that may change. If Diaz/Lee/Salvy/etc end up viable options, that may change if they want to commit to a longer term solution. And Brown may have different priorities going forward. There's just no reason to lock in something now when it's not particularly necessary.
Not really. But you definitely are always trying to throw **** in posters faces. You complain about other posters far too much.
So there hasn't been any mention at all by Maldy about retiring after this season? Also, why couldn't Maldy provide similar value to other teams? You seriously think he can't do prep work and other behind the scenes things with another team? Surely other teams are capable of reading snippets from interviews to see that pitchers like him and they can see how well Astros pitchers have performed over the years. Indeed, Dusty said explicitly that Maldy is driving the team's winning. It's also not like coaches/FO personnel from the Astros and who are familiar with Maldy haven't percolated throughout the league. Indeed, I would suspect that what Maldy brings to the table is not subject to the same kind of aging curves that other players are subject, and thus would remain valuable for years into the future. Who wouldn't that for pennies on the dollar?
