Martín Maldonado

Martín Benjamín Maldonado (born August 16, 1986) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He has previously played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, and Chicago Cubs.

The Angels selected Maldonado in the 27th round of the 2004 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2011 as a member of the Brewers.

Maldonado was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the 27th round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft.

He played his first professional season for the rookie-level Arizona League Angels that year, and batted .217/.277/.233.

In 2005, he again played for Arizona, and also played for the rookie-level Orem Owlz.

After he played one more season for the Arizona Angels in 2006, in which he batted .222/.329/.270, he was released.

In 2007, Maldonado signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers and played for the West Virginia Power of the Single–A South Atlantic League, batting .221/.309/.288.

In 2008, he played for the Brevard County Manatees of the High–A Florida State League and the Huntsville Stars of the Double–A Southern League, batting a combined .229/.290/.313.

He began the 2009 season with the Manatees, and was called up to the Nashville Sounds of the Triple–A Pacific Coast League at mid-season.

However, he returned to the Manatees to finish out the season.

In 2009 he batted a combined .201/.295/.257.

On defense, he was charged with a combined 17 passed balls in 93 games.

Maldonado played the majority of 2010 with Nashville, but also spent time with Huntsville and Brevard County.

On defense, he was charged with a combined 13 passed balls in 96 games.

He made his Major League debut on September 3, 2011.

He played in 3 games for the Brewers after his callup, striking out in his only at bat.

Maldonado was called up to the Brewers again in May 2012 when starting catcher Jonathan Lucroy went down with a freak hand injury, due to his wife dropping a suitcase on it.

In 2012 with Nashville he batted .198/.270/.347.

He played 78 games for the Brewers in 2012.

In 2013 he batted .169/.236/.284 for the Brewers.

His .169 batting average was the lowest of all major leaguers with 200 or more plate appearances.

Maldonado was involved in an unusual play in which he hit the cover off a baseball.

In a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 18, 2014, Maldonado hit a ground ball to third base.

By the time Pirates third baseman Pedro Álvarez fielded the grounder, the cover had partially come off the baseball and was hanging off its side; Álvarez threw the ball to first but it fell apart in midair, and made it to first only after several hops; Maldonado was awarded an infield hit.

Two days later Maldonado punched Pirate outfielder Travis Snider in the face in Pittsburgh, leaving Snider with a cut under a black eye.

He was suspended for five games, and fined $2,500, which with the suspension resulted in him losing $16,200.

On May 31, 2015, Maldonado caught a 17-inning game and also hit his first walk-off home run, in the bottom of the 17th against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In 2015, he batted .210/.282/.293, and committed nine errors, third-most among NL catchers.

In 2016, he batted .202/.332/.351 for the Brewers.

His seven errors were fourth-most among AL catchers.

On December 13, 2016, Maldonado and pitcher Drew Gagnon were traded to the Los Angeles Angels for catcher Jett Bandy.

In 2017, he both won a Gold Glove and a Fielding Bible Award.

The New York Times described him in October 2021, following a season in which Maldonado batted .172, as “arguably the worst hitter in baseball,” and Sports Illustrated wrote that "he quite possibly could be the worst-hitting everyday player in MLB history", although he has also been cited as a key factor in the success of the Astro pitching staff.

As a member of the Astros, Maldonado has been the backstop for two American League (AL) pennant-winning teams, which included a World Series championship in 2022.

He is one of two catchers in Astros' franchise history to catch multiple no-hitters: the first in 2019, the second in 2022, and the third August 1, 2023.

He caught one complete game no-hitter and two combined no-hitters, and he became the first man in major league history to catch multiple combined no-hitters.

Maldonado was named the Angels’ starting catcher and in 2017 played in a career-high 138 games, batting .221 with 14 home runs and 38 RBIs.

He won a 2017 Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

On July 26, 2018, the Angels traded Maldonado to the Houston Astros in exchange for pitcher prospect Patrick Sandoval and international pool space cash.