Dubón set to resume crucial role as versatile weapon
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Acknowledgment of Mauricio Dubón’s impact on the Astros last season came in various forms. Dubón spent two months as the everyday second baseman, filling in for an injured Jose Altuve, and continued his emergence as a super utilityman into the fall.
Former manager Dusty Baker started Dubón in center field five times in a seven-game American League Championship Series. A vote of MLB managers and coaches, combined with SABR’S defensive index, awarded a Gold Glove to Dubón, who played every position except pitcher and catcher for Houston while providing close to league-average offense.
Dubón accrued 2.7 wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference, after totaling 1.9 across his first four major league seasons. In December, Astros general manager Dana Brown told a team-run podcast that Dubón “is becoming like my favorite player on the team, because you can do so much with him.”
It all reinforced Dubón’s place on Houston’s roster. Still, for one day earlier this month, Dubón received a different type of feedback. Dubón attended his own salary arbitration hearing and watched the Astros argue against paying him the salary Dubón and his representatives sought.
Hearings occur when arbitration-eligible players and their teams are unable to settle on a salary for the upcoming season. Before a panel of arbiters, the player’s side argues for its proposed figure and the team presents its case for a lower one. The process can be inherently awkward. Dubón found it instructive.
“It was an interesting experience, but it was a fun one, too,” Dubón said. “It was interesting just because they point out the wrong stuff you do. So I take that as, OK, now I can look at that. I
can become a better player by looking at that.”
Dubón, notably, prevailed in his hearing. He will make $3.5 million this season; the Astros had proposed paying him $3 million. Often a question is whether a hearing leaves any effect on the relationship between player and team. Dubón dismissed that for him.
“For me, it was just an opportunity to get better,” Dubón said Saturday, after reporting several days early to the Astros’ spring training complex.
“I’m not upset or anything. I’m actually happy that all that was said. Because you don’t get better by people telling you good stuff. You get better when people say, OK, you’re missing this, this and this. Then we can come out and build that in spring training work.”
Dubón didn’t get into specifics of the Astros’ evaluation of him or any numbers or metrics cited. He said his main takeaway was to “just be more consistent than anything else.”
Last season featured some fluctuation. Dubón hit .309 as the everyday second baseman up until Altuve’s return in midmay. His contact-oriented approach yielded a 20-game hitting streak built on singles up the middle or to the opposite field. Dubón then batted .228 over his next 50 games, including another stretch at second base as Altuve dealt with an oblique injury.
A talk with Altuve in late July preceded another pivot. Altuve encouraged Dubón to seek pitches to do more damage. Dubón won’t be confused for a power hitter, but he slugged .520 over the season’s final two months while keeping good contact and strikeout rates. Among the Astros’ regulars, only Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman struck out less often last season than Dubón.
Building on that finish is Dubón’s goal. Dubón spent the previous offseason packing on weight to help him hit the ball harder. He did that, but said he felt “a little sluggish” as a result.
Dubón said he prioritized strength work this offseason. He reported to camp a few pounds lighter but “a solid 187” and saw results in strength tests.
“When the season’s happening, you feel like you’re going through a lot of stuff, a lot of emotions,” Dubón said. “Toward the end you see what’s going on. I felt like I could have done a lot better than what I did last year, even though it was one of the best years I’ve had.”
Dubón’s role can make consistency a challenge. Value stems from bouncing to different defensive positions, often on short notice. Dubón tailored his pregame routine last year to the position he played that day. Barring injuries, he figures to reprise the role. Houston returns projected starters throughout the lineup, leaving Dubón to work in where needed.
It makes him a key piece of new manager Joe Espada’s bench. Dubón did his best work last season at second base and in center field, where he offers perhaps the strongest arm of Houston’s options. But Baker proved willing to plug Dubón in at essentially every spot. He was named a Gold Glove finalist at second base and in the AL utility category, garnering the latter.
As a result, Dubón can have a gold patch on his glove this season. He sported one Saturday as he played catch with Yordan Alvarez on a practice field at the Astros’ spring facility.
“It’s a proof that the work I put in is paying off and everything,” Dubón said. “Every time I take a ground ball now, I look at the patch. It’s kind of surreal. But it’s a little bit more responsibility, too, because people expect you to be great with that patch on.”
Dubón recalled once asking former Giants teammate Brandon Crawford, who won four Gold Gloves as San Francisco’s shortstop, for one of his goldpatch models.
“And I still have it,” Dubón said. “So hopefully, I’ll get to send him one of mine.”