Maldonado went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Mariners.
Maldonado is hitting .224 (11-for-49) with four homers and eight RBI over 16 games in September. That's an improvement on his .193 batting average for the year, and he's up to 15 homers this season. The catcher has added a mediocre .616 OPS, 36 RBI, 33 runs scored and 12 doubles through 114 contests in 2023.
Maldonado is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
It's the second straight game on the bench for Maldonado, though he's still started behind the plate in four of Houston's past seven contests. Yainer Diaz will step in to catch for Hunter Brown on Sunday.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Heads to bench
Rotowire
Maldonado will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the Royals.
Maldonado is hitting .189/.258/.343 on the season and has graded out five runs worse than any other catcher at framing pitches (per Statcast). Even with rookie backstop Yainer Diaz breaking out to the tune of a .286/.310/.551 slash line, Maldonado remains Houston's primary catcher, though his off day Saturday means he only has a 5-4 advantage in starts over the last nine games.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Receives Tuesday off
Rotowire
Maldonado is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against Baltimore.
Maldonado started the previous two games and will head to the bench for Tuesday's contest. The veteran backstop has a .924 OPS over his last nine games but still has a .191/.2612/.347 slash line for the campaign. Yainer Diaz will take over behind the plate and bat seventh.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Not in Wednesday's lineup
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Maldonado is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Athletics, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Astros manager Dusty Baker is going with the stronger bat in Yainer Diaz. Maldonado had started six of the last seven contests for the Astros.
Maldonado is not in the lineup Sunday against the Padres.
Yainer Diaz will start at catcher as Michael Brantley serves as Houston's designated hitter. Maldonado contributed an RBI single to Saturday's 7-5 defeat of San Diego but is slashing just .187/.254/.337 across 366 total plate appearances this year.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Swats pair of homers in rout
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Maldonado went 2-for-5 with a pair of two-run home runs in Tuesday's 14-1 victory over the Rangers.
Maldonado played a key role in the Astros offensive barrage Tuesday, accounting for two of the team's six home runs on the day. The catcher plated Mauricio Dubon on both long balls, with each coming off opposing pitcher Dane Dunning. Over his last six appearances, Maldonado is batting 7-for-23 (.304) with three homers, six total RBI and four total runs scored.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Receives Tuesday off
Rotowire
Maldonado is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Red Sox.
Maldonado started behind the last two games and will head to the bench Tuesday after going 3-for-10 with a solo home run and four strikeouts. Yainer Diaz will catch for rookie righty J.P. France.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Homers in blowout win
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Maldonado went 2-for-4 with a solo home run during Sunday's 17-4 win over the Tigers.
Maldonado swatted his 11th home run of the season in the seventh to put the Astros out front 7-0. He now has two home runs over his last three games and has an RBI in four of his last five. The 36-year-old is having another abysmal year at the plate, striking out at a career-high 34.2 percent rate and slashing just .183/.252/.329 with 27 RBI, 26 runs and a 24:114 BB:K in 333 plate appearances.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Not in lineup
Rotowire
Maldonado will not start Saturday against the Tigers.
Maldonado finds himself on the bench for the second time in three games. Yainer Diaz will take over behind the plate.
Maldonado went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run in Wednesday's 7-5 extra-inning loss to the Red Sox.
Maldonado is hitting .234 (11-for-47) in August, with four extra-base hits and eight RBI across 15 contests. That's a better average than his .180 mark for the year, and he's at a poor .568 OPS even with the improved power output of late. The veteran catcher has added 26 RBI, 25 runs scored, 10 homers and 10 doubles through 93 contests as the Astros' top backstop.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Moves to bench Sunday
Rotowire
Maldonado is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners.
Yainer Diaz will get the nod behind the plate while Maldonado rests after catching each of the last three contests. Despite going hitless during that three-game stretch to bring his batting average down to .172 for the season, Maldonado still appears to be the Astros' preferred backstop due mostly to his skills as a pitch framer and game caller.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: On bench Tuesday
Rotowire
Maldonado is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Marlins.
Maldonado has a .715 OPS through 28 at-bats in August and will take a seat Tuesday after starting the previous two contests. Yainer Diaz will step in behind the plate to catch for Cristian Javier.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Sitting Saturday
Rotowire
Maldonado will hit the bench for the second time in three games Saturday against the Angels.
Yordan Alvarez's return from an oblique injury in late July bumped Yainer Diaz from the designated hitter spot and into more of a competition with Maldonado behind the plate. Prior to Alvarez's return, Maldonado started 75 of 102 games behind the plate (74 percent). With Alvarez back in the fold, Maldonado has gotten the nod 10 times in 16 games, or 62.5 percent of the time. That's still enough to make him the clear primary backstop, but his .181/.249/.317 slash line leaves him with minimal fantasy value even in that role.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Takes seat Wednesday
Rotowire
Maldonado is not in the lineup Wednesday versus the Guardians.
Yainer Diaz will start behind the plate and bat eighth after Maldonado caught Framber Valdez's no-hitter Tuesday night against Cleveland. Maldonado is the better defensive option of the two Houston backstops, but Diaz carries far more offensive upside.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Gets Monday off
Rotowire
Maldonado is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Guardians.
Yainer Diaz will get the nod behind the plate in the series opener while Maldonado rests. The 36-year-old started at catcher in five of the Astros' six games last week, going 4-for-15 with a solo home run and a double.
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Astros' Martin Maldonado: Day off Saturday
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Maldonado isn't starting Saturday against the Rays, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports
Maldonado is 4-for-11 with a home run across his last four games, and he'll catch a breather Saturday. Yainer Diaz will take over behind the plate and bat eighth.
