There is enough data showing that pitchers pitch better in Houston than they do other teams. It's not all Maldy but obviously he is part of it and the pitching culture. He sets the tone.
I have given up on arguing over what Maldonado does and doesn't bring to the table - because until he is injured or retires - he has the support of almost all of the players, coaches and player development people - not to mention a lot of people in the front office like Sara Goodrum, Sarah Gelles and others. Pretty clear that the Astros have at least tinkered with cutting his playing time role - from almost trading for Contreras, to trying to sign Contreras this Winter - to the current GM asking for Diaz to play more. At the end of the day - if Valdez, Javier, McCullers and Brown want their security blanket out there - he will be out there, especially in the playoffs. I am surprised that they haven't been able to limit Maldy to 100-110 starts for 2023 - but the season isn't over yet.
I like him a lot butI will be shocked if if Maldy is not on the injured list for a few weeks this year.
This would be the best time to DFA Maldy. There would have been concerns about what it could do to the clubhouse and team chemistry but **** can't get much worse right now. Maldy doesn't hit, his defense isn't what it used to be, and despite him working 27 hours a day on scouting for the pitchers, there's no correlation with him having better results from his pitchers.
I have been a Maldonado supporter. This is because I believe there ARE aspects of his job that can not be measured and fans do not see, and because I trust the organization. However, the physical performance has fallen to the point that it is now impossible to think he is still a net positive. It is time to demote him to backup or personal catcher for X starter. Or just DFA him, but I would hate to lose a chance at keeping him as an asset in the development/game planning system.
It's not that Maldy isn't useful, he just shouldn't be full time when you have a potentially an elite bat waiting in the wings. A guy that has the potential to be the best hitting catcher in the MLB.
Then honestly, those people shouldn't be in their roles. I can sit around and present data and pour over swing techniques all day long also. If I can't get a hit as a professional more than 17 times in 100 ABs then I am historically bad. If My defense is equally as poor, passed balls, Fram rate, pop speed and ability to throw out runners, now I am a complete detriment to the team. Pay me, I can analyze the **** out of players.
It's nice to know we get to read the thoughts of someone like you who has so much more knowledge than the Astros organization. It's still funny to me how many people spew out hitting and defense as a reason to bench Maldy, when everyone employed by the Astros constantly reference off the field reasons to keep him in his current role. Listen. I want Maldy on the bench, starting no more than 1-2 games per week, but I am not going to use stats that the Astros constantly say are not important to this decision as the reason why. I think Diaz could be the best catcher ( low bar from on field performance) this team has ever had and needs as much playing time as possible these 6 seasons of control. And also Maldy is older and needs to stay fresh in case he is needed due to injury in the playoffs.
Brown 4.63 ERA with Maldonado 2.62 ERA with Diaz Javier 3.10 ERA with Maldonado (3.42 last season) 1.64 ERA with Diaz/Salazar (1.30 last season with Castro/Vasquez) Somebody should sit these 2 down and have them look at their actual results when Maldonado isn't catching them. It's still shocking to me that Maldonado's ERA is just slightly better than Diaz despite Diaz getting to catch nothing but our worst starters. FWIW I don't don't think Diaz is a great receiver right now, yet as usual there's no discernable improvement with the "game calling savant" behind the plate. Diaz has started one game in 2 weeks, so he's barely even the backup catcher anymore.
Dusty doesn't seem interested at developing Diaz at catcher at all despite him showing a lot of promise there. Brown asked him to play Diaz more so he decides to slash all of his starts at catcher and now Maldy is playing more than before...pretty much everyday now. He found a loophole to shove it into all the Maldonaldo doubters face. Very trollish behavior from him per usual.
Dusty doesn't think of Diaz as a catcher just like he doesn't think of Chas as a centerfielder even when they numbers show that both are above average at those positions.
Give the pitch com to Maldy in the dug out so he can call the games. OR Let the DH hit for him instead of the pitcher
Yeah because professionals don't make mistakes. Chris Davis for instance. Maldy has become the Chucky Brown of the Astros, except he doesn't hustle, and looks lazy as hell on every passed ball
Playing a specific player 3/4 of the time for multiple years is not a "mistake". It's a choice. And that choice is based on thought and research each and every time over the course of hundreds of games. Now I think Maldy is no longer the player he used to be, and more importantly the Astros have a much better option. That said, I acknowledge that I don't know nearly what the Astros organization does and am not nearly as able to make those decisions. Keep in mind that even when the organization forced Dusty to stop starting Dubon in CF in the playoffs last year, they still let him start Maldy in 11 of 13 games. As fans we hate to see the Astros lose and hate to see an old guy play catcher 80% of the time and play like crap. When there is a clear-cut better option on the roster to our eyes. But the Astros still think Maldy is the better catcher option. It's enfuriating but it's fact. And I can't say I know more than them.
