3 Houston Astros playing their way off the 2024 roster in the ALCS
By Mark Powell
Martin Maldonado is running out of time for the Astros
Martin Maldonado is the leader of the Astros pitching staff. Dusty Baker has defended him on multiple occasions, including this season.
“He’s my field general,” Baker told Yahoo Sports. “Yainer right now is at West Point learning war strategy, whereas Maldy’s already been at war.”
Houston pitching coach Josh Miller had similar comments, suggesting that Maldonado more than makes up for his inept nature at the plate with his handling of the pitching staff.
“I think there are a lot of intangibles that go into the catching position — and every position on a baseball roster — but in the catching discipline in particular that don't get measured,” Miller said. “It's not easy to put a metric on: How does he instill confidence? How does he let a pitcher relax so they can focus on executing a pitch, rather than thinking about what pitch they should be throwing? You know, those things don't get measured.”
Yainer Diaz has proven to be better with the bat in his hands, and the Astros have high expectations for him behind the plate as well. In the years to come, Diaz will take over for Maldonado. The question is when, not if.
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