HOUSTON – The trade that brought Mauricio Dubón to the Astros in May 2022 won't be remembered to be as impactful to the club as the deal that brought Yordan Alvarez to the Astros from the Dodgers in 2017 or the one that landed first baseman Jeff Bagwell from the Red Sox in 1990. Dubón won't wind up in the Hall of Fame like Bagwell -- and perhaps Alvarez -- but there was a case to be made he was one of the team's most valuable players in 2023. Dubón began the season as the team's Opening Day second baseman while Jose Altuve was on the injured list with a fractured thumb and spent much of the rest of the season as the team's top-notch utility player. In the regular season, he started games at second base, shortstop, first base, center field and left field, while appearing in games at right field and third base. Dubón slashed .278/.309/.411 in the regular season with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs and had a 20-game hitting streak early in the season. Earlier this week, he was revealed as a finalist for an AL Gold Glove at two positions -- second base and the utility position. "I feel very prideful in what I do, my defense," he said. "I prepare myself every day to play whatever position I get to play. If I'm not playing, I think that's the hardest day because I've got to prepare for seven positions. So I think that's the biggest thing for me, just how I try not to make mistakes on defense, but sometimes it's going to happen." |
Dubón started 35 of the team's first 42 games at second base after Altuve fractured his thumb in the World Baseball Classic and required surgery. He started 13 consecutive games at second base in July while Altuve was dealing with an oblique injury. Dubón appeared in six postseason games in last year's run to the World Series title, but all were as a defensive replacement. He didn't get an at-bat. So far this October, he's appeared in seven games (five starts) and is 8-for-22, batting .364 with eight singles. "He's been amazing," Altuve said. "We all know that. He loves playing the game. He loves showing up every day. And playing wherever he gets to play -- it can be shortstop, second base, center field, left field. And he hits. And more than that, he's a great teammate. "He's always rooting for the team whether he's playing or not. And probably I don't think we'd be here without him. He's been such a big part of this lineup, this team, this organization this year. And I know he had more to do with this postseason because he's been playing really good. And just hopefully he keeps playing and getting big hits for us." Dubón, who was traded for Minor League catcher Michael Papierski, said getting dealt from the Giants saved his career. He felt underappreciated and underutilized in San Francisco, where he played in 177 games from 2019-22. "I think obviously it was the best thing for my career, [getting] the opportunity," he said. "I was telling somebody that I got smarter, I got a little stronger. But my ability hasn't changed. For me it was a matter of getting a chance. And thanks to the Astros, they gave me a chance to get out there and show people what I can do." |
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Framber Valdez, who will start Sunday's Game 6 of the ALCS for the Astros, last year opted to start wearing the team's navy batting practice tops when he pitches. Valdez liked the material and comfortability of the jerseys, and the Astros have typically worn them on games in which Valdez pitches this year. But now there's a dilemma. The Astros went to Arlington and swept the Rangers in Games 3-5 of the ALCS while wearing their orange jerseys -- the same jerseys they wore when they clinched the World Series in 2017 and 2022. So which jerseys will the Astros wear in Game 6? It's still to be decided. "I think some people try to use the jersey as a crutch, [saying] 'Oh, the team played well,'" Valdez said. "It doesn't matter to me what jersey we use, whether it's the navy, the white, the orange -- just go out and compete." |
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Astros manager Dusty Baker is one win away from reaching the World Series for the third year in a row, which would put him four wins shy of winning a second championship as a manager. That would be meaningful for Baker for several reasons, most notably for him would be tying Cito Gaston for the most championships by an African American manager. Baker broke into professional baseball at 18 years old in 1967 as a member of the Austin Braves of the Texas League. Gaston was a 23-year-old on that club and took Baker and Baker's close friend, Ralph Garr, under his wing. Gaston won back-to-back World Series as manager of the Blue Jays in 1992-93. "He really helped me and Ralph Garr on how to deal with being in the South, a young kid from California in the '60s," Baker said. "He took me with him everywhere. And then we played on the Braves together. And then he got drafted by the Padres in the expansion draft, and we remained friends. And then I took the same course he took in managing. "We talk quite often. Which is one reason I came back [to manage in 2020], because I said I wanted to do the Cito Gaston, which means you went back-to-back. And that's probably one of the main reasons I came back, was because of Cito." |
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