The final installment of my 2018 Astros defensive review will be at the catcher position, an area where the team experienced quite a bit of change during the offseason. Veterans Martin Maldonado and Brian McCann will be replaced by newcomer Robinson Chirinos and holdover Max Stassi. There are a few different elements that go into a catcher’s defensive value, so I will partition the analysis into separate phases.
Baserunning
The Astros ranked just above league-average in caught-stealing percentage (CS%) last season (29% CS, 25 of 85). Maldonado, who threw out 46.4% of would-be basestealers in 2018, allowed the fewest steals (18) in the game, by far, for players who caught at least 800 innings and also the fewest attempts (35).