I have addressed this narrative before, but today I want YOU to answer it yourself.
We continuously hear:
Maldonado makes the pitchers better
Maldonado is the far superior game caller
The pitchers WANT to throw to Maldonado
My answer to all of these narratives, is a simple question:
Which Astros Catcher Manages the Pitching Staff Better?
My entire point is that RESULTS MATTER. If we want to win the division and ensure the Astros make the postseason, they must go with the players that give the team the best odds of winning. I don't care who players like better. Who do they PERFORM better with?
So, before reading forward answer this- Which Catcher Manages the Pitching Staff Better? Catcher A or Catcher B? (As usual red is good and blue is bad)
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Who did you say? The pitcher that has ONE below average connection or the one with SIX?
As you may have guessed Catcher A is Maldonado and Catcher B is Diaz. Here is a more complete set of data for you.
The column to the shows the relative ERA pitching to Maldy vs. pitching to Diaz. Four pitchers have pitched better to Maldy, and nine pitchers have pitched better to Diaz. EVERY pitcher of these 13 with enough innings to be relevant have pitched well to Diaz except Montero. EVERY PITCHER!
Fun fact- Pressly STILL hasn't given up an earned run pitching to Diaz.
The pitchers perform better throwing to Diaz by almost 0.6 runs per game.
The TEAM performs better with Diaz starting at catcher. The Astros have gone 20-11 with Diaz starting or 0.645 pct or on pace to win 105 games. The Astros have gone 46-41 with Maldy starting or 0.529 pct or on pace to win 86 games.
Do you want to win 86 games a season or 105 games a season?
The even more startling fact in those comparisons is that Maldonado has gotten EVERY Valdez, the staff ace, start and all but one Javier start. He is failing the game that has been rigged for him to win.
I DO NOT CARE WHAT THE PITCHERS WANT.
Diaz Manages the Pitching Staff Better! He should be starting 70% of the games at catcher.