It is no secret that the Astros didn’t receive much value from its starting catcher, at least in terms of what is classified as quantifiable production. Only one catcher — Eric Haase — with at least 200 plate appearances in 2023 cost their team more wins than Martín Maldonado’s -1.2 fWAR. Seven out of 45 catchers posted a lower wRC+ than Maldonado. There was also the -17 catcher framing runs, which was the worst in baseball. While Maldonado was still fine with blocking, pop time, and throwing arm, the negatives in other aspects were too large of an issue to outright ignore.
Looking At The New Catcher Advantage
