27 at bats It simply doesn't make sense, IF the organization views Hensley as a potential long term player, to not play him every day while Altuve is out. Especially when the other option is Dubon, who as I mentioned before, has defensive value and is fine as a utility guy who starts twice a week
And golfers value their caddies very highly. Pitchers who trust their catchers to call the game they want can focus more on simply throwing pitches. The best pitcher of his generation clearly valued and wanted Maldy catching his games. Unless you're saying you know more than him about pitching, it seems like a weird foundation to build an argument on.
What Dubon is doing right now isn't unprecedented. He actually hit this well his first 2 seasons in the league. He said he put on almost 30 pounds since joining the club, so there should be bump in power.
The point is his only “skill” isn’t demonstratively proveable (our pitchers are just as good with other guys catching as Maldy) and it’s not even truly his responsibility to call a game- a pitcher calls his own game- has all the same information as Maldy and they’ve come up with a coherent plan together before the game. Also- you are ignoring the fact that Maldy wasn’t as shitty in 2018 as he is now. The whole thing is so stupid. And nights like tonight where the bottom of the lineup isn’t it’s usual dismal failure literally proves the point that we are wasting so much time with Maldy. If we get production out of the bottom of the lineup the game is sooooo much easier. But, we typically don’t because he (And Dubon) ore wretched offensive players so we continue to play left handed (or right handed if you are Framber). Dusty is literally wasting precious development time, ****ing us out of the opportunity to learn something important about our #2 prospect- riding a 38 year old catcher into the ground, all while making it less likely that we win and more likely that we bury ourself in the standings while waiting to get healthy. It’s inexcusable that Maldys fat ass is giving away games defensively while finding the Mendoza line to be aspirational and watching our second best prospect languish away on the bench. the fact that you think it’s smart and indignantly act like anyone who doesn’t clap like a barking seal for this insanity is a first rate moron isn’t super awesome.
Does anyone have a comprehensive performance breakdown of the pitchers with and w/o Maldy over the past, say, 2 years? I'd be curious to see if there is a tangible difference in pitching performance that can be clearly linked to his catching abilities. Conversely, is there a noticeable offensive swoon when he plays?
Man. You really really hate Maldy. Lol. Don't get me wrong, I do too but damn. Hopefully the Astros wise up this year in some shape or form.
His stats are all over the place and likely subject to regression. He's just in a hot streak right now So many unsustainable numbers: 3.4% K and BB rates 0.71 ISO .370 BABIP (after having a .221 BABIP last year) 89.7mph exit velocity (which is above average) expected BA from statcast is .282, which would still be crazy high for him but much more reasonable.
I don’t even hate Maldy that much honestly. I hate the portion of our fanbase that tells you how stupid you are when you point out that the emperor is walking around in his birthday suit.
I don't think anyone is deluding themselves about his offensive production. It's not good. The Locked On Astros podcast talked about it recently. In game recap from the last Framber start, they said it was noticeable that Framber wasn't his usual self and was on edge. Maldy recognized it, called time and went to talk to him. There were a couple other examples as well, but it's pretty obvious Framber was coaxed through his 7IP when he was throwing alot of balls (5BB). There's no quantitative way to know what value Maldy added to that game minus the box score, but almost every pitcher on the staff would say he helps them play better. One of my pet peeves about the fanbase is the bunch of people who blame team's offensive failings on the worst hitters on the team. Dubon got so much crap last year when he was hitting poorly, but he's the 26th man. He wasn't expected to carry the team. Maldy is hitting like **** this year, but the team's offensive problems are way more related to missing Altuve, Brantley, and a good Bregman. Would it be nice if Maldy hit better? Of course.
He's always had really low K rates. Last year, he had a lot of pop-ups which was his worst offensively. He mentioned that Alvarez help him with his swing and he's hitting on top of the ball more which shows in his numbers so far. With his added power from his weight gain, these numbers aren't that far fetch. I do expect his average to come down, but I also expect a few more homers this year. A .750 OPS is totally reasonable given the numbers from his first 2 years, and the changes he made. .750 would be amazing for our 8/9 hitter who is known for defense.
