Martín Maldonado

April 16, 2025

Heading to bench Wednesday

Maldonado is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cubs.

Analysis

After submitting a lowly .404 OPS in 48 games with the White Sox before being released last July, Maldonado has enjoyed a relative resurgence in San Diego so far this season. The 38-year-old backstop continues to provide most of his value behind the plate, but he's held his own with the bat so far, slashing .250/.276/.357 over 29 plate appearances. As a result, Maldonado has moved into a timeshare at catcher with Elias Diaz, who will be back in the lineup Wednesday after hitting the bench in five of the past seven games. The playing time will likely tilt back in Diaz's favor eventually, but the distribution of starts could be relatively even while he and Maldonado are performing at a similar level offensively.