New catcher Martín Maldonado has been an important asset to the Royals. While his bat has been more of a liability than anything else, its his work behind the plate that’s making him a valuable addition to the team.
And by valuable, I mean he’s dealing with a (currently) inadequate group of pitchers that should (and have the ability to) be doing more to keep the team in games.
Since the injury to Salvador Perez put the team into something of a quandary, the Royals have had Maldonado and Cam Gallagher to choose from as backstops. As unproductive as Maldonado has been at the plate, Gallagher is somehow much worse.