Astros' Martin Maldonado: Scratched with thumb soreness
Maldonado recently took a foul ball off his left thumb and was scratched from Tuesday's lineup against the Cardinals as a precaution, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Maldonado was labeled by manager Dusty Baker as the Astros' No. 1 catcher heading in to spring training following the departure of Robinson Chirinos in free agency. The 33-year-old Maldonado has spent time on five different major-league rosters during the past two seasons and is valued as one of the league's premier defensive options behind the plate. Maldonado owns a career .219 batting average, but demonstrated flashes of power towards the end of last season in Houston, hitting six home runs to go along with a .464 slugging percentage across 27 regular-season contests.
