Plus: A look at the Astros farm system
When the Astros arrived in Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon ahead of a three-game series against the Twins, catcher Martín Maldonado went to his hotel room, opened his laptop, and went to work. The game was still a day away, but Maldonado had a couple of hours of homework ahead of him. That's the routine for the Astros' veteran backstop, whose preparation for days he's behind the plate is as vital to Houston's success as anything they do. Because of Maldonado's preparation, the starting pitcher has a clear-cut plan to attack opposing hitters when he takes the mound. They know Maldonado has done his homework and they trust him implicitly. "A lot of these guys feel very comfortable throwing the ball to Maldy," Astros manager Dusty Baker said. "They love throwing the ball to him. He's their security blanket." Prior to each series, Maldonado will spend 3-3 1/2 hours studying the opposing hitters, usually in his hotel room, on a plane or at his house. He watches videos of each hitter on his laptop and makes extensive notes for each player, using a system he learned from pitching coach Rick Kranitz when he was in Milwaukee. If the pitcher has faced a hitter before, he wants to see how he attacked him. What did he throw to get him out? Where did he miss? "Back in the day, I was a backup and did a lot of sitting next to [Kranitz] when he was doing [his reports]," Maldonado said. "The longer you prepare, you're more prepared for anything. If something doesn't go right, you need to be prepared for it." |
Maldonado takes notes to formulate which pitch to throw in different situations. Can the batter hit a slider? How does he do against changeups? Is he a low-ball hitter? Maybe the hitter makes adjustments to his approach with two strikes? He will make a sheet of notes for each opposing player, which Maldonado combines with detailed reports he receives about each players' tendencies from the analytics team to formulate a plan. "It's always pretty similar," Maldonado said. "I feel that every once in a while, they find something different than I do and I communicate with them, and they look at it and make adjustments if they have to. They give me information coming into the series, then when I do mine, I compare it with them." Maldonado joins pitching coaches Josh Miller and Bill Murphy and a member of the analytics team assigned to opposing hitters to go over the information with that day's starting pitcher. That meeting takes place about 90 minutes before first pitch and could last anywhere from five minutes to 30 minutes, depending on the familiarity with the other team. "It's always come down to you've got to execute pitches," Maldonado said. |
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| Who had the most hits for the Astros in the 2000s (2000-09)? |
A. Lance Berkman B. Craig Biggio C. Jeff Bagwell D. Richard Hidalgo |
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"There's a lot of people trying to help me out, 'Why don't you do this, Why don't you do that?' This is not a video game. I build confidence in my players, and you start taking confidence away in the first week, how you going to do it five-months plus?" – Baker on his lineup changes. |
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With Minor League Baseball now in full swing, here's where the Astros' Top 30 prospects are beginning the season. Most notable is outfielder Drew Gilbert, the team's No. 3-ranked prospect, and outfielder Jacob Melton (No. 4) both beginning at High-A Asheville. Gilbert was the No. 28 overall pick last year out of the University Tennessee and Melton was the 64th overall pick out of Oregon State. |
THIS DAY IN ASTROS HISTORY |
April 9, 1985 Not many people could bring Nolan Ryan to his knees. Morganna Roberts certainly wasn't just anybody. Roberts became known in the 1970s and 1980s for running onto fields at athletic events and kissing players, earning the nickname, "Morganna, the Kissing Bandit." It began in 1969 when she jumped onto the field at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati and kissed Pete Rose, beginning a "career" in which she kissed more than 50 athletes. On April 9, 1985, at the Astrodome, Morganna rushed onto the field and headed to the pitcher's mound, where Ryan was doing his work in the first inning. Ryan dropped to one knee, put out both arms, and let Morganna plant a kiss on his cheek as the fans cheered wildly. Morganna was arrested, but Harris County prosecutors dropped the case at the request of attorneys for the Houston Sports Association. "We won the case on the gravity defense," she said. "I just leaned over the fence, and gravity took its toll and took me into the arms of Nolan Ryan and Dickie Thon. Who is gonna argue with Isaac Newton?" |
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The "Big Puma" had 1,553 hits in that span. Biggio, who retired after the 2007 season, is second with 1,192 hits. |
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