Well yeah, that's Nook's point. It's the non-stat line stuff primarily holding him back. Consistent effort, thorough opposing hitter review for pitcher prep, etc.. Stuff that Maldy is renown for and still apparently does to an acceptable level to the FO/manager. If Diaz did everything Maldy does and out-performed him in every way on the field, this wouldn't be a conversation at all. And they'd probably be willing to overlook his current not great swing decisions.
I mean, at what point do actual results start to matter? Maybe he isn't doing all the things to "show his work", but when the game is actually played his results have been impeccable as a catcher (I mean glittering results on both sides). The average student who busts his ass and makes a B or the gifted but lazy student who gets an A.
I want to point out I'm not particularly for or against what they're doing with Yainer. He's clearly performing well in his limited sample, against conventional wisdom that inconsistent playing time leads to worse performance. Said it before, but there's a ton of political considerations going on in the background. Dusty in his limited time has been both very successful (B2B WS runs with 1 ring) and done unconventional things time and time again. Last year alone there were outcries about the playing time of: Chas, Doobie, Yuli, Maldy, Vasquez, Mancini to name a few. Dusty chooses how much rope to give people. DB is a new GM and has to decide how much rope to give Dusty. I don't think straight up making Diaz 70+ % starter at C right now necessarily improves things short term or is necessarily the best long-term decision either. The Stros are in a good place regardless of who's catching right now, IMHO. If Dusty wants to experiment/send a lesson, I honestly don't care.
You know the Astros have turned the season around when the only thing left to argue about is Martin Maldonado's playing time....again.
This is Maldy's ride into the sunset. The team will let him start as many games as his health will allow. I expect that will decline as the summer gets here but he will still start 60-75% of the games. Diaz may be the catcher of the future as soon as 2024. It certainly won't be Maldy. But most likely I see him on a Carlos Santana path: Santana % of his games Yr 1= 87% C Yr 2= 61% C Yr 3= 70% C Yr 4= 55% C Yr 5= 7% C Never catch again. 1122g at 1B, 318g at DH, 45g at 3B, 9g corner OF. 20.9 bWAR during his " control window"
Don't know for sure, but I'd guess that Santana being a butcher behind the plate had something to do with that
No Astros tonight. In the NYY vs Rangers game, I guess I have to root for NYY? (makes my stomach upset to do so)
Don't expect the Rangers to stay in the division race. More likely the Astros would battle the Yankees for seeding.
Astros could play Double A teams the the first few weeks of a season and they'd be below .500. It just is what it is.
