I am actually excited and hesitant about the Astros catcher situation. If Korey Lee can learn under Martin Maldonado, he’d be ideal to become the main catcher of the future. He supposed to be a high quality catcher with some pop in his bat. If he can learn to call a game with such skill like Maldonado, it’s going to be pretty awesome. And that leaves Diaz to be the catcher 1B. Where Diaz could get some at bats at 1st base, DH, pitch hitter, etc. Of course getting a good catcher is quite a difficult task, and to be able to get 2 young catchers is like catching lightning in a bottle. But I am very pleased with the possibility of having talented prospects that are nearing the ML level. And if Lee and Diaz both falter, the Astros will need to open up the wallet to bring in a quality catcher. But if either/ or both of those guys catch on, that leaves money to address other needs!
The value of a good defensive catcher is rising, as stolen bases are expected to skyrocket with the implementation of the pitch clock and the larger bases.
I agree with you. I am very excited about Diaz as an everyday player too. I think he has a good opportunity to be a starting catcher in the league. But I think he can also step in at 1st base when Abreu finishes his 2 year contract; much like Biggio moved from catcher to 2nd base. For Korey Lee it’s catcher or bust, nevertheless for Diaz he can play and excel at 1st base or catcher.
Diaz has the bat talent to become an all star in this league but it is limited by his speed and lack of walks. As a catcher, he could compile the best hitting stats in team history over 6 controllable seasons. As a 1B or DH he could be the league's best #7 or 8 hitter but not a star. He is a very useful guy to deepen a lineup but his minor league performance so far is that of a guy who walks far less with a much lower extra base hit percentage than recent Astro star prospects like Alvarez and Tucker, even if he Ks less as well.
Apparently the Astros starting catcher for, at least, 2024 is not currently in the organization. I would be very interested in reading about how the team feels about catchers in the lower levels and how long before they feel one could be ready.
I was on Fangraphs TODAY looking up 2023 projections and they list Garrett Stubbs on the Astros I got excited and looked for any news but can't find any. It clearly is a mistake but I think he would fit in very well. Weird how 12 months ago he didn't so they traded him.
Stubbs seems to be have finally his place in Philly as a reserve catcher. In 106 ABs last year, he did manage to achieve an .812 OPS. A WAR of 0.9 for 106 ABs is actually pretty darn good.
Are you sure they are not talking about his little brother? CJ Stubbs and JC Correa will be catching in Corpus this year and both are positioned to take a big step.
There’s been a lot of talk recently assuming the Astros do not view Lee or Diaz as the catcher of the future. Of course there is credibility to nook’s comments about how the org soured on Lee and how Diaz doesn’t want to catch, but the reality on the ground to this point tells a different story. There have been half a dozen or more quality catchers signed this offseason to deals that would have been more than affordable for Houston. If the Astros truly didn’t believe in Lee or Diaz’s ability to catch 70+ games this season, they could have easily signed someone like Narvaez, Zunino, Vazquez, Hedges, Perez, or Barnhart, as none of those guys secured large contracts. So unless there’s a move in the works for someone like Salvador Perez or Yasmani Grandal, we have to assume the Astros are pretty comfortable relying on Lee/Diaz as the backup catcher this season, and the leap from that expectation to pencilling in one of those guys as the everyday catcher starting in 2024 is pretty short.
If the Astros have given up on Lee after just one short look in The Show, that would be disheartening and would indicate that they felt that Lee, despite any and all of their current/future development efforts, would never cut it. Might as well set Lee free now.
Can't just set a 1st rd pick free after a bad first impression. No upside to that move. Sheer downside. I'm still hoping the good impression he made returning to Sugar Land kick starts the impression the organization has and he surprises them. But as if now they aren't counting on him being the catcher of the future.
I listened to a Ryan Pressly interview and he credited Vasquez a lot for help unlocking his change-up. First 40 games, he used it only .5% then increased it to 12.8% last 14 games including the playoffs ) which pretty much coincided with Vasquez arrival (in the same time span, fastball % decreased from 35.8% to 17.7%). Supposedly Maldy was never a fan of utilizing it while Vasquez would call for Pressly to use it more often and it seems to have paid off..especially in the playoffs when he was near untouchable. Between Vasquez calling good games (2 no-hitters), having good chemistry with the pitchers and his timely hitting in the playoffs, I really wish he could've kept him.
It was going out of his way to sign anywhere except Houston. I realize Dusty and Maldy conspiring to not play him was a huge issue but screw that guy. He didn't want to be here. I'm not going to cry that the team didn't bring back a player who was actively trying to play anywhere but here.
But didn’t he want to leave bc he didn’t want to backup Maldy? Everything we’ve heard so far was that Maldy was not going to lose his starting job. To date not one person has adequately explained why we would ever take that position given our alleged strong desire to upgrade the position.
I was just trying to have a little fun by saying they were conspiring. Truth is that Vazquez was always just insurance. The fans just are so dead set that Maldy is not good enough and needed to be upgraded but that was never the case. After as many games as Vazquez sat after the trade, I don't think there was any chance that Vazquez would have believed if he was told he was signing to be the starter.
