Unsung hero
Astros’ Game 7 starter contends catcher Maldonado has been the team’s MVP
McCullers says Maldonado is the team’s real MVP for work behind the plate.
For all the monumental moments on offense during the Astros’ surprising playoff run, LanceMcCullers believes the team’s playoff MVP — its season-long MVP, in fact — is catcher Martin Maldonado, with his occasional contributions at bat and his CEO-quality performance behind the plate.
Both elements were very much in evidence Friday night. Maldonado contributed a sacrifice bunt in Houston’s four-run fifth inning, and he also encouraged and occasionally scolded Framber Valdez through six innings of the Astros’ 7-4 Game 6 win at Petco Park in San Diego.
“It’s all about offensive numbers nowadays,” said McCullers, who will start Saturday’s Game 7. “But when you have someone who you’re able to rely on and who knows when to slow the game down and when to step it up and to tell themanager that this iswhat we’re doing, this is how we’re rolling … his will to win, his grit is something I admire a lot.”
Maldonado is not a reclusive leader of men. He is very much the man in charge, flipping up his mask to bark instructions and even getting on thephone to brief bullpen coach Josh Miller on strategy during Thursday’s Game 5.
OnFriday, with theAstros having taken a 4-1 lead in the fifth, Maldonado clearlywas not pleased when Valdez walked Willy Adames to lead off the bottom of the fifth and then missed on his first pitch to JoeyWendle.
He went to the mound, mask in place, and had some well-chosen words for Valdez, who proceeded to induce a fielder’s choice grounder from Wendle and struck out Mike Zunino and Mike Brousseau to end the inning.
In the sixth, Maldonado and shortstop Carlos Correa combined to settle the lefthander’s composure after Yandy Diaz expressed his displeasure with Valdez following a one-out walk. Valdez then got out of the inning with a double-play grounder by Brandon Lowe.
Maldonadoalso iswont to have his way with manager Dusty Baker. In Game 4, he encouraged Baker to leave Zack Greinke in to complete
the sixth inning of an eventual 4-3 win.
The veteran catcher even drewa smile from the habitually reticent Greinke as the team left the field after the inning.
In Game 5, Maldonado phoned the bullpen to speak with Miller before Brooks Raley entered in the sixth inning.
“Every once in a while, I do that,” Maldonado said. “I was telling him that (the Rays) probably would have a pinch hitter, so just in case to go over the pinch hitters in that situation instead of just the scouting report for the hitter he was going to face.”
While some players leave the game at the ballpark, McCullers said Maldonado is still grinding at the team hotel, watching game film with Carlos Correa and others.
“Their success isn’t by accident,” McCullers said. “Those guyswork hard, and they’re getting hot at the right time.”
Maldonado has just six hits with three walks, a homer and two doubles in the playoffs, but he has scored six runs. His third-inning
double in Game 5 preceded Michael Brantley’s two-run single that put Houston up.
On that play, according to MLB’s Statcast cameratracking system, Maldonado amped up his basepath speed, which ranks among the bottom10 inMLB for position players, to score from second on a lackadaisical throw home by Rays right fielder Austin Meadows.
“I was pretty fresh,” Maldonado said with a slight smile. “I wasn’t getting on
base much.”
Maldonado has been in the lineup for five of the six games against the Rays and was a late-inning replacement in Game 3. He almost certainly will be behind the plate in Game 7 on Saturday night at Petco Park in San Diego.
That game shapes up as a rematch of Game 2 between McCullers and former Astros righthander Charlie Morton. The Rays won that game 4-2 despite a solid out
ing from McCullers, who struck out 11 in seven innings but was victimized by two Rays home runs.
“I’ll be very excited to pitch,” McCullers said. “I’ve pitched in a couple of Game 7s (in 2017 against the Yankees and Dodgers), so with that and knowing coming into the series that I was slated for Games 2 and 7, I’ve been ready for those two starts.”
McCullers said he remains friends with Morton and traded greetings with him before their Game 2 starts. He’s also friends with former Astros player Brett Phillips, a groomsman at his wedding and a member of the Rays’ inactive roster in this series.
“Chuck and I are both pitching (in Game 7), but it’s not so much me versus Charlie as it is the hitters versus Charlie,” McCullers said “He’s a great friend, hewas a great teammate, and he’s a great competitor.
“As much as I love him, I hope the W’s flip.”