I have so much more to say about Dusty Baker and his saying that Diaz is "learning his craft," but I want to give you this simple fact and I will incorporate it into the Maldy tracker probably tomorrow (I am working on some other things.) And I want to give you a song to think of for when you see Maldy and Abreu.
WAR
Many Astros fans are aware that Jose Abrea has THE worst WAR of all qualified A in the MLB.
If we lower the PA filter down to 150 PA something else important becomes clear. There are 224 MLB players with 150 PAs in 2023.
Abreu's -1.3 WAR is 224th still of course
Maldonado's -0.6 WAR is 218th
That is right. the starting C and 1B are delivering -1.9 WAR combined and are BOTH in the BOTTOM SEVEN. My quick research says that the last time a World Series Champion had two players with more than 150 PA that combined for -2.0 WAR was 2005.
The Astros have two players at - 1.9 WAR now and that would be on pace for -5.0!
Other "fun" facts
With the same 224 players
wRC+- Abreu (49) 220th, Maldy (65) 214th
K%- Maldonado 13th highest- 31.8%
ISO- Abreu (0.049) 221st, Maldonado (0.096) 194th
OBP- Abreu (0.272) 212th, Maldonado (0.283) 202nd
Defense
Catchers (19 players)- Maldonado's -2.8 defensive WAR is 17th out of 19
First Base (38 players)- Abreu's -5.6 defensive WAR is 29th out of 38
They don't hit.
They don't hit for power.
They don't get on.
They don't play decent defense.
What do they do? Strikeout
The team would be better off with them gone, but you can't just dump them. You CAN bench them. Dusty won't.
As I wrote this, this song was stuck in my head. Older folks will know it. You will remember the song Goody Two Shoes (1982) by Adam Ant?
The Original Lyrics
Goody two, goody two, goody, goody two shoes
Goody two, goody two, goody, goody two shoes
You don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do?
You don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do?
Your subtle innuendos follow
There must be somethin' inside
My Lyrics
WasGoody, wasgoody, wasgoody, wasgoody two shoes
NotGoody, notgoody, notgoody, notgoody two shoes
You don't hit, don't field, what do you do?
You don't walk, don't power, what do you do?
You're at the bottom of all others
Dusty still searching for somethin' inside
This will be in your head now for every Maldy and Abreu PA- sorry not sorry.
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