Martin Maldonado played through a sports hernia and a broken hand for the latter part of the 2022 season, toughing it out to remain on the field and help the Astros win a championship. As a result, Maldonado admitted that he “felt a little sad” that the Astros looked at Willson Contreras and other available catchers this offseason. “We just won the World Series and I felt like I sacrificed my whole body playing through injuries for the team….But I understand the business,” Maldonado told The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome and other reporters. “I know as an owner, as a front office, they’re going to try to always get the best position players available and help the team get better. Willson was the best free-agent catcher out there.”
Maldonado has rarely hit much over his 12 MLB seasons, but he is beloved within the Astros clubhouse for his defense and ability to work with pitchers. A new addition doesn’t appear to be coming for now, leaving Maldonado atop Houston’s depth chart and youngsters Korey Lee and Yainer Diaz competing for the backup catching job. Maldonado’s health situation certainly spurred the Astros’ acquisition of Christian Vazquez at the trade deadline, but if Houston has any lingering feelings that an upgrade is necessary behind the plate, they’re certainly still a team to watch on the trade market throughout the season.
More from around the AL West…
- Given Jacob deGrom’s injury history, a seemingly minor four-day shutdown due to side pain was cause for concern amongst Rangers fans, but the newly-signed ace is now “feeling really good,” as Texas GM Chris Young told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News and other reporters. “He’s made a lot of improvement….And he was throwing before he got here, so I think he will catch back up quickly. He was sort of ahead of schedule to where he’s been in the past.” DeGrom is expected to throw off a mound on Monday or Tuesday, and is slated to play catch and take part in fielding drills in the interim.
- Last weekend’s trade that sent JJ Bleday from the Marlins to the Athletics was “a blindside” to the outfielder, Bleday told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). But, Bleday is now ready for his “exciting opportunity” in Oakland, and how he is planning to establish himself as a big leaguer after an underwhelming rookie season. Bleday hit only .167/.277/.309 over his first 238 plate appearances in the Show, and said “the jump from Triple-A to the big leagues was definitely bigger than I anticipated. There were some things in the big leagues I was doing mechanically that I probably shouldn’t have been. You’re really unaware of it but you have no time to work on that stuff because you’re playing every single day….It’s a relentless league.” After an offseason of prep, Bleday is now looking to keep his hands high at the plate and put an emphasis on hitting fastballs. It wasn’t long ago that Bleday was a consensus top-50 prospect, so a breakout might come in his new environment if Bleday can adjust to MLB fastballs and continue his ability to draw walks.
Saw the headline and thought Candy is making a comeback. Guess I need a nap.
Try hitting .200 before you complain Martin.
I have questioned the Astros sticking with Maldonado. They just won the World Series though, so what do I know? Statistics obviously don’t tell the whole story with this guy.
Maldonado is below average
On offense sure but that’s only half the game. He’s a top 5 defensive catcher
Framing he’s average at best and offensively he’s a bottom 3 starter
When you have a stacked lineup like the Astros have you can trade offense for defense at the catcher position.
Framing isn’t everything. There’s a reason the Astros staff LOVES working with Maldy
I agree. He’s a great guy to have and the Astros should be happy to have him, regardless of how he hits. Most catchers can’t hit anyway.
Pitch framing lol.
Martin Maldonado appears to be a high integrity guy, and team-first all the way. Sacrificing your body like that on the way to a World Series victory does deserve appreciation, no doubt about it. The fact he is still their #1 guy behind the plate speaks to that to a large extent. The Astros pitchers would not be happy if he was unceremoniously demoted.
Well said, ISOAB. You hit the nail on the head. Don’t worry about your 9 hole hitting catcher when you’re the World Series champion; and said catcher is perhaps the most beloved member of your entire roster. It is what it is, and you got that Lee kid with MORE talent coming up to learn from him. I was honestly surprised to see that they were in on any other catcher. Maldy is f’ing nails, man.
There is a reason they’ve been the best team in baseball since 2017. They are constantly trying to improve their team.
See SODOMOJO even though we are Mariners fans we are still able to say nice things about our chief rival. Must mean we haven’t devolved into complete keyboard warrior trolls yet lol.
Chief rival? Wouldn’t that imply Seattle is close to Houston in talent? Seattle’s rival should be LAA or Texas, not Houston.
He is also elite behind the plate. Always has been. Any offense is a bonus.
As a Mets fan, this is business as usual for deGrom. Minor setbacks like this will be common with him. He’ll be extra motivated this year to prove he can throw 200+ innings again. You just hope the minor setbacks don’t stack up as has happened the last few years.
He’ll probably hurt himself walking up onto the mound Monday or Tuesday. He’s gotten paid so I doubt he has any extra motivation now. Last year was when he had motivation, because he wanted to pitch enough innings so that he could opt out.
In the past, deGrom’s declaration of “feeling really good” has turned out to be a few months on the IL.
If only Maldonado was as young as he looks. Biggest babyface since Hulk Hogan…
I think Bleday is a great gamble acquire by As. Low risk, young player with a lot of talent.
Yea, I’m into it. Puk has a better track record of major league success (granted the injuries) but if we can get a solid everyday player it’s worth it, even if it just ends up MLB average with modest arbitration raises.
I’ve never minded Maldy’s weak bat, I’m worried about his health. He’s pretty beat up, and I was disappointed that the Astros didn’t re-sign Vasquez.
Yainer Diaz can provide as much as Vasquez did, at least on offense which isn’t saying much
Houston acquired Maldonado at the deadline in 2018.
Since then, the Astros have been to three World Series and won one. In that time span, Houston has had the best pitching staff in the AL.
Its not a coincidence.
Forget about hitting. A catchers two main jobs are to handle a pitching staff and provide solid defense behind the plate.
Maldonado has been a key part of Houston’s success.
deGlass
deBrittle
Maldonado felt a little sad. How old is this fella?
Old enough to stomp you, old man.
Stomp your face.
Mark, if you’re going to start a sentence with the word but, you don’t need a comma after it.
Bleday = bust