sure. But that wasn't why Buck was saying he didn't want Contreras. I promise. Which was what I was responding to. It wouldn't have been a problem if you'd have moved on from Maldonado. IT would have still been a big win. Diaz could be your 1b (or LF) of the future instead of your catcher of the future.
Here's the kicker, JV pitched better to non-Maldy catchers, and had Jason Castro as his 'personal catcher' until he got hurt. The only other pitcher that openly lobbied for Maldonado outside of Framber was Gerrit Cole who wanted the Yankees to sign or trade for him if there was an opportunity to do so.
He needs to be the backup and be the Verlander specialist, he is now a drag on the team. Cost us the game the other day with his passed ball - no longer has that cannon and is a super negative as a hitter that we can't afford with Breggy and Abreu being below .250. DD
Absolutely, the pitcher preferring Maldy thing is over exaggerated in my opinion. Maldy should be Framber's personal catcher, but that's it. Framber is just nutty enough with his routines, sports psychologist, and uniform requirements where I get it. As you stated, Castro caught JV before he got hurt, and there was a time Maldy was only Gerrit Cole's personal catcher, and Chirinos caught everybody else. Before that even, McCann caught everybody. This is beyond simple. Diaz gets one day off at Catcher when Framber is starting, problem solved.
Its just 100% unacceptable when you see those offensive numbers AT CATCHER and then see the defensive metrics and the passed balls. This is actually a mothereffin outrage.
I was door dashing last night since there was no game on. I randomly selected an old LockedOn Astros podcast from before the World Series last year. Ryne Stanek was on it talking about how "unreal" and "unbelievable" Maldy's research and game preparation is and how much extra work he does on his own time. And how much every pitcher on the staff loves and appreciates him. He had the tone of someone who would take a bullet for the guy.
They might take a bullet for him, but are they willing to lose their playoff money for him? Of course, it is impossible to say how many games Maldy has single-handedly lost us, but I would put the number at 5, more if you add the offense and defense of Diaz.
I get what you are saying, but just want to point out that while Abreu has been just as bad as maldy this year, Bregman is a winning player and a great fit in the 2 hole, regardless of his batting average. I'd like for him to up his offensive production, but no way should he be lumped with those other two. I just don't see him as a negative in the lineup; he is just a bit below what you expect from him. And that's not even mentioning his plus defense. On the other hand, Abreu and Maldonado have been pretty much terrible on both sides of the field.
Maldonado basically gives you pitcher level offense against RHP. It's a complete embarassment that our poor excuse for a manager still finds a way to send him out against them while we have another option that crushes them.
the difference tho is kyle hit dingers. meanwhile martin hits air. i had no idea schwarber is this bad this year. remind me of ryan howard.
Contreras as the Astros long term catcher would not be good. He had numerous issues with the Cubs pitching staff. He also didn’t catch a lot for the Cubs WS team and he had Ross and Montero helping him out. He had issues again with the Cardinals. Contreras has also said in interviews he gets bored and doesn’t try as hard as he should. I don’t want that person to be my catcher 130 times a season. Having said that - Contreras has a good bat, and a fairly consistent bat over the course of a season. I would be perfectly fine had Contreras picked the Astros. He can play the outfield, can catch and play first. His contract is fair as well. If the Astros were playing Contreras at first - LF - C and DH, I would be happy with that. Altuve Bregman Tucker Alvarez Contreras McCormick Diaz Meyers Pena
Yup - the pitchers are solidly behind Maldonado and want him to catch them. They have asked their manager for him to catch him. He is considered exceptional at game recognition and preparation and is very good at scouting. Also it isn’t just players like Stanek that is impressed - Sarah Gelles, who is in charge of the Astros research sciences and development has said Maldonado is brilliant at understanding numbers, patterns and statistics. While I admit it is very frustrating, it isn’t as simple as Dusty alone wants Maldonado out there.
