MARTIN MALDONADO DEEP DIVE
Let's examine Martin Maldonado's value to the Astros in 2021
Oct 28, 2020, 2:27 pm
MARTIN MALDONADO DEEP DIVE
Martin Maldonado completed the first year of his two-year, $7M contract with the Houston Astros in 2020. Maldonado got off to a hot start, especially for him. He slashed .259/.403/.448 in the month of August before cooling down the rest of the way. He had a couple of memorable moments at the plate in the playoffs, namely his performance off of Charlie Morton, but Maldonado really brings his value defensively.
The value of a catcher is tough to quantify. Sure there's framing statistics, but how valuable is framing? And how telling is the statistic really? Yes, there's caught stealing percentages, but teams have stealing down to a science, and they really only run when they are confident they can get the bag. Most of the value really isn't quantifiable. How does he handle a pitching staff? How well does he block the ball? How well does he know the scouting reports and opposing team's hitters? These all have more value than framing.
Long story short, the metrics actually don't love Maldonado as a defender. He's a below average pitch framer by nearly every site. Fangraphs has Maldonado at -2.1 in framing, worse than the average catcher. Baseball Savant has Maldonado in the 38th percentile of MLB catchers in framing.
Maldonado was +1 in rCERA, which is an adjusted catcher's ERA stat. Essentially Maldonado was one run above average compared to other catchers in his pitching staff's ERA. However, it's still a developing statistic that can't control lots of factors that are out of the catcher's control.
RPP is a statistic that tracks a catcher's blocking ability. Essentially, how many runs did a catcher save over a given season with his blocking ability. Again, Maldonado was a +1. Slightly above average, but barely.
Where Maldonado does stand out is his ability to control the running game. Pop Time numbers aren't available for 2020, but in 2019, Maldonado was 11th in MLB with a 1.96 average Pop Time. His arm resulted in a 2020 season where he threw out 6-of-19 base stealers (32%). The fact that teams only tried to run on Maldonado 19 times shows how much respect other teams have for his arm.
Essentially, the numbers say Maldonado may not be worth his reputation as an elite defender, but he's still good. He's elite at controlling the run game, and the fact that pitchers and Astros personnel trust him so much as a game caller speaks to his value at the part of his job that is the most important and simultaneously the most unquantifiable.
All that being said, Maldonado wasn't a zero with the bat in 2020…
Hard Hit % - 26.7%
Barrel % - 8.1%
K% - 30.9%
BB% - 16.4%
Chase% - 23.5%
(Above Numbers from 2020)
Almost all of the above numbers are statistical anomalies for Maldonado. The 26.7% Hard Hit % was 8% worse than last season and 4% worse than his career mark. His K% was 8% worse than last season and about 6% worse than his career mark.
However, his BB% nearly doubled from 2019, and it's more than double his career average. His Chase % was also 4% better than last year, and it continues a steady downward trend in Chase % since his 34.9% career high in 2018. The increased discipline resulted in a season where Maldonado had an 8.1% Barrel %, the best of his career, despite the steep drop in overall Hard Hit %.
Basically, Maldonado didn't hit the ball hard as much as he usually does, but he made up for it by hitting it as hard as he possibly could about ⅓ of the time he hit it hard. He struck out way more than usual, but he offset that with a massive spike in walks as well. The result? The second best .OPS of his career, and his best was when he was a rookie in 2012.
Maldonado's 110 wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus) was actually 12th amongst catcher's with at least 100 Plate Appearances. The fact that the guy that was supposed to be the Astros worst hitter was 10% better than league average at run production is pretty insane. Is it sustainable?
It does seem that Maldonado got a tad lucky with his performance in 2020, but not by much. His .2016 xBA (Expected Batting Average) is a bit worse than his .215 actual batting average. His .362 xSLG is slightly behind his .378 actual .SLG. Lastly, his .295 BABIP ( Batting Average on Balls in Play) is an improvement on his career mark of .269.
That being said, almost all of Maldonado's numbers were way out of whack from his career norms, meaning that he may just be a different hitter. There are numbers that suggest Maldonado made an approach change in 2020.
Maldonado's GB% in 2020 was the lowest it's been in the Statcast Era. At 37.2%, it was an 11% decrease from 2019, and it's just a smidge below 10% of his career mark. Maldonado pulled the baseball 48.8% of the time in 2020, 7% more than last year, and 10% more than his career average. His 42.2% Swing % was a 3% decrease from last year, and it was the lowest it's been since 2016.
Remember how Maldonado's GB% decreased a bunch? Well, that decrease was almost entirely picked up by his LD%, which went from 21.2% to 33.7%. That would explain the increase in Barrel %. It also explains the increase in his average Launch Angle from 12.6° to 19.1°. Maldonado's Sweet Spot %, which puts a percentage on the number of balls that leave the bat between 8° and 32° but leaves exit velocity out of the equation, was 38.4%. 12.4% more than 2019, and 10% more than his career average.
What do all these numbers mean? It looks like Maldonado came to grips with the fact that he'll never be a high average guy and he'll always swing and miss a lot, so he's "keyholing" one spot that he knows he can drive and do damage with, and he's actually doing a pretty good job of executing. This type of approach means Maldonado will never hit much better than the .215 he did this year, but if he can compile high .OBP and .SLG while providing quality defense, then he's well worth his $3.5M price tag. The Astros could definitely find an upgrade if they felt like spending on one, but they don't need to by any means.
The phrase most associated with the late former Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders’ owner Al Davis was “Just win baby.” One has to think Al would strongly approve of the Houston Astros. Going to the fifth inning Sunday against the Mariners the Astros were facing a 3-0 deficit and staring at the prospect of being swept out of Seattle and having their American League West division lead slashed to just two games. Now after roaring from behind with 11 unanswered runs to take the series finale in the Emerald City, and then sweeping three games from the Diamondbacks in Phoenix, the Astros stand six games up with 60 games to go. So, if the Astros play just .500 ball the rest of the way (which would have them finish with 90 victories), the Mariners have to play .600 ball to catch them. If somehow the Astros are to maintain their season long win pace to the finish line they’d close with 95 wins, and the race is already over unless someone thinks the M’s are poised to uncork a finishing kick of 41-19 or better. It’s quite a pleasing perch from which the Astros survey the standings. Coupled with the freefalling Detroit Tigers having dropped nine of their last ten games, the Astros amazingly start this homestand sporting the best record in the entire American League. On the homestand they follow four games against the team with the second-worst record in the American League (Athletics) with three versus the team with the second-worst record in the National League (Nationals). I know, I know. There is fear of the Astros playing down to the competition, but that is not the way to look at it. A bad Major League team can beat a good team in a series at any time. If it happens it happens, but it wouldn’t mean it happened only because the Astros didn’t take their opponent seriously. This isn’t the NBA.
Trade deadline looming
Of course, It hasn’t been all good news with Isaac Paredes badly injuring a hamstring Sunday. Paredes could be back in three weeks (doubtful), he could miss the rest of the season. GET WELL SOON JEREMY PENA! Lance McCullers’s latest Injured List stint could be considered addition by subtraction for the Astros’ starting rotation. Whether impacted by his blister issue, Lance was lousy in four of his last five starts. So, one week from the trade deadline, if general manager Dana Brown has the ammo to get one deal done, where does he make the upgrade? The left-handed hitter everyone knows the Astros can use regardless of Yordan Alvarez’s status is a natural priority. With the Astros’ weak farm system it would seem difficult for Brown to put forth the winning offer for the top bats that could be in play. That probably rings even truer now, since if he wasn’t already untouchable, Brice Matthews may have cemented untouchable status by darn near winning the first two games of the Diamondbacks series by himself. Matthews is going to struggle mightily to hit for a good average if he can’t make notable improvement in the contact department, but the power is obvious, as is the athleticism in the field. The 23-year-old Matthews and 22-year-old Cam Smith (though presently mired in a three for 36 slump) are the clear (and right now only) two young shining beacons for the lineup’s future.
You can't have enough pitching
While Brandon Walter has been a revelation, a starting pitcher would make sense unless the decision is to hope Spencer Arrighetti and/or Cristian Javier can contribute meaningfully upon return to the big leagues, likely sometime next month. Going after a reliever or two may make more sense in terms of availability and transaction cost. Overall the Astros’ bullpen has been excellent, but Bryan Abreu is the only trustworthy right-handed option for Joe Espada. Back to Walter. Barely two months ago no way Walter himself would have believed he’d be where he is now. Nine starts since being summoned basically out of desperation, Walter has a 3.35 earned run average, and a stunning 13 to one strikeout-to-walk ratio with his 52 strikeouts against a measly four walks allowed in 53 2/3 innings. Walter has pitched fabulously in seven of his nine starts. He only has two wins, but that’s because in five of the six Walter starts the Astros didn’t win the game they failed to score more than two runs. Walter turns 29 years old in September. His only prior big league experience was 23 innings in relief with a 6.26 ERA for the Red Sox two years ago. The Bosox released him last August, the Astros signed him basically as minor league depth. Look at him (and the Astros) now.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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