The Rangers have now lost games to the Astros that were started by Ronel Blanco, Shawn Dubin, and Brandon Bielak.

Last 14 days

SO HOT RIGHT NOW (OPS/wRC+)
Tucker - 1.424 / 274
McCormick - 1.405 / 272
Bregman - 1.134 / 212

SOLID
Abreu - .762 / 120
Diaz - .792 / 115

BAD
Meyers - .671 / 81

WORSE
Dubon - .484 / 30
Julks - .372 / 17

HOW?
Pena - .291 / -17
Maldonado - .259 / -41

Pena and Maldonado…incredible

Farmer1906 said:

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HOW?

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Pena is on a historically bad slide. Really hope he figures it out.....

Wabs said:

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Pena is on a historically bad slide. Really hope he figures it out.....

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Springer did one worse IIRC and he snapped out of it. But George was and is a much better hitter.

Mathguy64 said:

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Wabs said:

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Pena is on a historically bad slide. Really hope he figures it out.....

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Springer did one worse IIRC and he snapped out of it. But George was and is a much better hitter.

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One thing those 2 have in common though…

Wabs said:

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Pena is on a historically bad slide. Really hope he figures it out.....

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Peña's worst 2 weeks of his entire baseball life is STILL somehow better than what Maldy has been for a majority of this season

bearkatag15 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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Wabs said:

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Pena is on a historically bad slide. Really hope he figures it out.....

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Springer did one worse IIRC and he snapped out of it. But George was and is a much better hitter.

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One thing those 2 have in common though…

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Technically two.

Ring
WS MVP

I guess we can kiss the JV starting tonight for us goodbye but I'll happily just take a trade announcement.

A few excerpts from a Maldy Q&A I did on here a few weeks ago:


Texags: Deluxe, you were one of Maldy's biggest supporters last year. Why?

Deluxe: Every year is different. Last year, Maldy was our guy behind the plate and there was no doubt about it. He managed the best staff in baseball. His offensive numbers weren't even that bad from June on.

Castro and Lee didn't provide any real competition for his job. And Vazquez was brought in as insurance in case Maldy went down. It's also worth noting that Maldy outperformed Vazquez down the stretch last year (though one could fairly point out that it was at least partially due to Vazquez not getting consistent work).

Our offense was also better last year and it was easier to hide him in the 9 hole.

Texags: Why haven't you spoken out on Maldy's behalf much this year?

Deluxe: Again, every year is different. I was a big proponent of Diaz getting a lot of work early this season. We needed his bat. And given where the team was earlier this year, we had a good opportunity for him to audition for a bigger role on the team into the future. Not to mention playing Diaz more would keep more tread off Maldy's tires for when we need him down the stretch.

At this juncture, there's no question that Diaz outperforms Maldy in almost every measurable category. Significantly so in many categories. Whereas last year Maldy was unquestionably the guy, this year it's a little more complicated.

Texags: What value does Maldy add to the team?

Deluxe: Maldy is a scouting/matchup guru. Our starting rotation is top 5 this year with France, Bielak and Blanco pitching significant innings. I can't imagine he doesn't deserve any credit for that.

Texags: But pitchers have a better ERA this year when Diaz is catching.

Deluxe: Is Diaz devising that game plan on his own or is Maldy devising it behind the scenes and helping Diaz adjust throughout the game?

Texags: Not sure any of us can say for sure what goes on behind the scenes.

Deluxe: Agreed. I tend to think he's adding a lot more game-calling/matchup value behind the scenes than what most fans recognize. There's been plenty of accounts of this… from his teammates/coaches, to opposing managers and commentators who have given him credit for swinging multiple playoff series' in our favor. I also don't think one of the smartest organizations would continue to run out a player who's so bad statistically without a good reason.

Texags: Fair enough. But if Maldy's value is his brain, doesn't that mean Dusty should start Diaz and instruct Maldy to essentially be backup catcher/bench coach?

Deluxe: In a perfect world devoid of player egos, perhaps. But Maldy still sees himself as the starter. He LOVES the game and wants to play as much as possible. To say "hey Maldy, we need you to keep busting your ass for us and producing scouting reports, but Diaz is gonna play and you're gonna sit" probably isn't the best way to keep Maldy engaged.

Texags: If Maldy isn't going to be a team player and accept a backup/bench coach role at this point, we should just cut him.

Deluxe: He would get picked up by one of our rivals in two seconds.

Texags: Fine, let our rival have fun with his .160 batting average and lackluster play behind the plate.

Deluxe: Be careful what you wish for. Trust me, I get the frustration watching him trudge out there 3-4 times out of 5 games and look lost at the plate. Maldy's value clearly isn't in his 162 game production. But he's a guy you really really really want in your dugout when the playoffs roll around the game becomes exclusively about matchups.

Texags: Our clubhouse was able to withstand the losses of guys like Correa and Springer and keep rolling. We can withstand the loss of Maldy.

Deluxe: Maybe. But clubhouse culture isn't really the point. The point is the value he's adding to our game-calling processes.

Texags: Thanks Deluxe. You're right as usual.

Deluxe: I appreciate that but I don't consider myself "right" in this instance. Again, I share the frustrations this year watching him struggle while also watching Diaz mash. But I also think general fan disdain for Maldy has gone too far. I can't say with 100% certainty that he's adding enough game-calling/behind-the-scenes value to offset his lackluster production, but no one in the "disdain Maldy" camp can say with 100% certainty that he's not.

No one really knows and the truth is probably in the middle. The only thing I can say for sure is a fair analysis of Maldy's value add in the game-calling realm is much much more complicated than looking at pitcher ERA with either catcher behind the plate.

For now, I want to see Diaz play a little more. But I also think the job should be Maldy's when October rolls around.

Should the @Cardinals pursue Yordan Alvarez?
Mock trade:

Cardinals receive
Yordan Alvarez

Astros receive:
Steven Matz
Zack Thompson
Paul Dejong#stlcards  #Braves pic.twitter.com/eGHnXjlk8A

— Poverty Birds (43-53) (@PovertyBirds) July 25, 2023

I fear you might be correct gonna be hard for Mo to pull the trigger on this it might set us back

— Poverty Birds (43-53) (@PovertyBirds) July 25, 2023

No this is super serious and I think the Astros would 100% take this trade

— Poverty Birds (43-53) (@PovertyBirds) July 25, 2023

I think we pass for now

— Poverty Birds (43-53) (@PovertyBirds) July 25, 2023

I think he really is serious

parker mushinski just pulling some nasty stuff last night pic.twitter.com/VGzGV3uFvP

— 𝕁𝕒𝕜𝕠𝕓 🌟 (@jakedc6) July 25, 2023

Mush should stay in this bullpen

I'm trying to imagine Shohei in Phoenix. Or Baltimore. He would not be happy.

Deluxe said:

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For now, I want to see Diaz play a little more. But I also think the job should be Maldy's when October rolls around.

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Here is where you lose me.

Maldy's job should be to get Diaz ready for Oct. I think Maldy knows deep down. I think he's a good guy and teammate. Anyone see who dumped water on Diaz after the walk-off? Old man Maldy.

Here are a few quotes from a recent Rome article from Maldy on Diaz.

Quote:

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"He's starting to realize how important it is to this pitching staff to be prepared," Maldonado said. "I've seen him going in the right direction about that, being prepared a little more than in the beginning of the year. I feel like he still has to be able to communicate a little better with the pitchers between innings, between starts. But he has come a long, long, long way from spring training."

"In the minor leagues, it is more about the pitcher's plan according to the organization, right? A guy has to throw more changeups, more sliders, if the guy has to command the baseball better. Here, it's about competing from pitch one, how to get the hitter out. It's way different way of planning," Maldonado said.

"I always tell him, here we are used to winning, used to being in the playoffs, used to pitchers being good," he continued. "They take pride and know what they have to do, so you have to be on the same page. It's different if you're on a team that doesn't care about that. You can just go out there and call whatever you want."

Maldonado attends every pregame planning meeting, even when he is not scheduled to catch. He has noticed Diaz come "a long, long way" since spring training, but still wants him to discover his voice and become the sort of leader a pitching staff needs from its catcher. Diaz said he believes he's improved "200 percent" in his pregame readiness and pre-series analysis of an opposing lineup.

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Diaz showing his growth

Quote:

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"It's one of those things now where I'm to the point that I'm passionate about that and even enjoy just preparing for (a) series, even if it's a series I'm not going to catch. I really enjoy preparing and talking to the pitchers about how we can attack hitters," Diaz said.

"(Maldonado) told me how important it is to prepare and also he has a lot of experience at this level, but he also is a person who will tell me things how they are, even if it hurts my feelings. He's not afraid of that. And I think that makes me better."

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Maton sees it too.

Quote:

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"The game (Diaz) calls now is nothing like his first games he called in early April," Maton said. "(He has) a better feel for the game, much more prepared for the game, better understanding of sequencing and, not only that, but just a better understanding of the pitching staff. He knows all of us, knows our strengths, knows what we like to default to. He's caught on very quick and I'm just really impressed with him."

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I love the mentor/mentee relationship that's developed between those two and really really love that Diaz is trying to milk every last bit of knowledge from Maldy this year. He's clearly made big strides and it should pay dividends long into the future.

To your comment about the playoffs, I'm not opposed to the idea that Diaz could close the gap on Maldy enough in the matchup/scouting realm that it justifies giving him more starts. I just don't know that you can realistically download 13 years of experience behind the plate in this short of time period. Maldy is sort of the grandmaster in this regard.

But who starts which playoff games at catcher could be circumstantial anyway. Maldy is going to catch Framber. If we pickup JV or a different vet, I think it's very likely catches him too. But say we fall behind in a series 0-2 and the offense is sputtering. I can see Diaz starting games 3/4 regardless of who's pitching.

W said:

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Pena will step into the box tonight with a 4 for 39 streak going (since July 9th)

his last x-base hit was July 5th

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Well he's due then. 3 for 4 tonight

5-3 against the Rangers so far this season with five games remaining. Need to grab two more to take head-to-head.

Those Cards fans proposing that trade have to be drunk, high or just plain stupid.

Lance Lynn???

More Chas love on MLBN

W said:

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Pena will step into the box tonight with a 4 for 39 streak going (since July 9th)

his last x-base hit was July 5th

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Stat: Since Jul 5 / Full Season
EV: 89.2 / 88.0
LA: 7.4 / 6.0
Barrel%: 2.2 / 5.2%
HH%: 40.0% / 34.9%
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xBA: .222 / .246
BA: .151 / .232
BABIP: .159 / .275
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K%: 14.0% / 21.6%
BB%: 5.3% / 5.3%
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GB%: 66.7% / 53.2%
FB%: 28.9% / 27.9%
LD%: 4.4% / 18.9%
IFFB%: 15.4% / 5.4%
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Pull%: 55.6% / 48.9%
Cent%: 35.6% / 31.3%
Oppo%: 8.9% / 19.8%

This little check-in makes me feel much better about Pena's slump. Sure, he's probably rolling over and hitting too many on the ground to the SS or popping straight up in the INF, but he's run into a bit of tough luck too. He's not hitting the ball softly. He's not striking out more (less actually). I think he'll "break out" of this and be more like he has been (fine, not great).

I'm just here for the optimistic Farmer posts backed by stats.