Maldy has to go if dusty or Maldy can’t accept the back up catcher/guidance for Diaz role. If framber and Javier can’t deal with it then that’s telling on them,plus they have no choice next year. The other players have to see it and I can’t imagine it would disrupt the clubhouse that much anymore. I would do it now so we could make a small move for a back up. If we’re not upgrading the SP in the next 24hrs then we need all the offense we can get from the lineup and there’s no excuse to sit Diaz. None
Verlander catcher splits 2022: Castro 0.96 ERA Maldonado 1.99 ERA I've seen enough. No Maldy for Verlander.
That is unfortunately what we're going to get. Also, don't get your hopes up for Diaz catching Valdez anytime soon. Framber had high praises for Maldy after the no-hitter last night.
Whether Diaz catches JV will completely be determined by JVs impression of him in his 1st few bullpens. He took to Chirinos very quickly. JV can call his own pitches if necessary. Many pitchers do, with pitchcom. If JV is comfortable with how Diaz catches and they develop some chemistry, he is smart enough to want the extra run production. Maldy will continue catching Framber (especially now), and Javier. Maybe Urquidy, I don't know. Clearly Dusty let's the veterans choose. There is a chance Diaz could catch everyone else. That could be 4 of 6 starts for Diaz. Add a DH day and hectares 5 of every 6 games which would be fine.
https://theathletic.com/4743670/2023/08/03/framber-valdezs-no-hitter-astros-play/ No Astro is more polarizing to Houston’s fanbase than Maldonado, the light-hitting catcher who carries immense weight inside the clubhouse and continues to play because of it. Maldonado’s value is hard to quantify. His backup, Yainer Diaz, bests him in almost every available metric and has already been dubbed Houston’s catcher of the future. His offensive statistics are among the worst in baseball; he hasn’t hit over .200 since 2020. Tuesday reinforced why there will be no shift in playing time this season. Valdez, Peña and almost everyone who spoke publicly afterward heaped praise on the 36-year-old catcher, who caught the third no-hitter of his 13-year major-league career. Only Carlos Ruiz and Jason Varitek have caught four. “I’ve said it before and it’s fallen on deaf ears, kind of. He means a ton to our pitching staff,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said on Wednesday. “There’s something to putting down the right fingers and something to the catcher having trust and the pitchers having trust in the catchers.” Maldonado works most of his magic away from the field, where he is renowned for his pregame preparation, detailed scouting reports and inherent ability to read swings to adjust in-game. By all accounts, Diaz is progressing in all of those areas, but the team values Maldonado’s experience and the rapport he’s formed with the pitching staff across the past six seasons. Maldonado is important to the entire staff, but no starter needs him more than Valdez, an emotional southpaw who can sometimes still lose his focus and is now grappling with a pitch clock that can prevent him from using some of his techniques to calm down. “It’s everything. That is everything,” Baker said. “You don’t have to really think, you just execute. If you have to think and execute or worry about a runner, that’s double trouble splitting your concentration. Especially with the 15-second (pitch) clock, you have very little time to shake off and then commit to the pitch that you’re about to throw.” On Wednesday, Baker said Valdez barely shook off Maldonado during Tuesday night’s no-no. “I feel like a lot of the sacrificing I do, sleeping-wise, being up at night (doing) scouting reports, also time with my kids. I’m doing reports and, if you ever have kids, you know they’re jumping all over you. I have to give them a paper while I’m doing work and they’re writing crazy stuff on the paper,” Maldonado said after Tuesday’s game. “Overall, I think all the hard work I put in, all the time I put in on a daily basis on how to call a game and how to get a game plan together, it shows. I think it’s worth every minute.”
Maldonado worst hitting starting catcher in baseball. No debate. Maldonado arguably the worst defensive catcher in baseball. There isn't any "quantifying his value". He's liked, we get it. We can like him while he sits on his sofa at home. This season by Maldonado represents the worst starting player on a winning team vying for a championship in MLB history. I dare you to find anyone worse.
I agree that 2023 needs to be Dusty's last season, but he has a golden ticket to manage as long as he wants.
Julks as well. I am more upset at this point that Julks continues to play. He's one of the worst players in the league and has somehow gotten the sixth most plate appearances on the team. With Meyers in center and Chas in left full time, I would imagine that we would maybe be two or three games better to this point in the season.
I have been squawking for Julks to be sent down all season long. It's amazing how many people came back at me. I have been accused of being "Jake Meyers' biggest fan" and a Jake apologist, and I admit I like him. But outside of last year when he was playing with 1 shoulder, Meyers' career worst month is a 661 OPS while Julks now is sitting at .652 for the year. And Julks has negative defensive value.
No one's going to like this, but the pitcher love for Maldy is not limited to JV and Framber. https://www.khou.com/article/sports... every single,Maldonado to settle things down. “He’s one of the hardest-working guys on this team ... he’s essentially our quarterback,” closer Ryan Pressly said. “He’s a great person and means a great deal to me,” Javier said in Spanish through a translator. “For me, it’s almost like God put him here for us, to be able to guide us through these games.” “Maldy and I were a pretty good combination there,” Javier said. “I just trusted every single time he put a pitch down.”' “That matters a lot,” Neris said. “When you have a guy like him that’s a veteran, smart — he thinks about you versus the hitter, so you don’t have to have any frustration. Because you say: ‘Maldy’s got it, and he can help me in any situation.’” “I think for this group we have here to have Maldy behind home plate is the best,” Neris said. “It’s like the perfect complement for us.”
They've really been trying to pimp up Maldy lately. Going the extra mile to say good things about him publicly. I guess there must be something chirping around that's kind if forcing them to come out and make these statements.
Or maybe they are hearing all the fan criticism and actually like him and want to defend their teammate. Or maybe the Astros are expending their credibility with the players to force them to randomly talk about a teammate. Seems logical. Cole raved about him after signing with the Yankees. I wonder if the Astros were forcing him to do so then too.
No one doubts the pitchers love him. People doubt that the pitchers pitch better to him .. because they don’t. He is the human equivalent of a degenerate gambler’s “lucky numbers”, except in this case there is a blue chip stock available for free while the gambler flushes his money on lotto tickets because he remembers that one time a few years ago he got $100 on a scratch-off.
The bottom line is that Maldy has tons of positive attributes. And tons of negatives attributes. The positives can't be seen by the fans. The negatives are neon signs in our faces. Diaz has tons of positive attributes but is young and learning the things Maldy is so good at. Maldy's negatives are growing at the same time Diaz is getting better and better. The fans only see Diaz getting better and better and only see Maldy getting worse and worse. And they can't believe what they can't see. All the Astros pitchers, Dusty, and front office people are lying. Maldy sucks But EVERYONE likes him so much they would rather lose with him than win without him. At some point all the good Diaz brings will outweigh Maldy's but it isn't yet. I want more Diaz, but I'm not willing to say the Astros are lying and I know more than them.
it isn’t the front office, it is Dusty and a few pitchers. And they aren’t lying - but they are wrong. They would not genuinely prefer losing with him, but they mistakenly believe his positives offset his negatives. They were wrong about Straw over Chas too. It happens. You can keep asserting to the contrary, but the results in baseball are objective and measurable, and neither you nor any of his defenders have given any evidence that offsets the clear and objectively better offensive, defensive and pitching performance differences.
