Brewers call on Maldonado - Chippewa Herald

MILWAUKEE â€" Jonathan Lucroy knows exactly what Martin Maldonado is going through.

Two seasons ago, Lucroy jumped from Class AA Huntsville to the major leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers in a span of about six weeks after Gregg Zaun was lost for the year with a shoulder injury.

Now, with Lucroy expected to be on the disabled list for about six weeks with a broken right hand and backup George Kottaras limited due to a sore hamstring, the 25-year-old Maldonado has suddenly become the starting catcher on a Brewers team ravaged by injuries.

While it certainly isn’t an ideal situation, learning on the job can have its advantages.

“It was tough,” Lucroy said of his own experience, which was the launchpad for the long-term contract extension he signed in March.

“After this is all over with, he’s going to be even better because of the experience. It definitely made me a lot better. I was thrown in the fire, but I think learning on the fly in almost a force-fed kind of situation helped me learn even more.

” ‘Maldy’ is going to learn a lot from it, and it’ll benefit him down the road.”

Whereas Lucroy is homegrown, having been picked by the Brewers in the third round of the 2007 draft, Maldonado has traveled a much bumpier road to get to this point.

A native of Naguabo, Puerto Rico, he was drafted by the then-Anaheim Angels in 2004 in the 27th round but never made it out of rookie ball. Maldonado played just 82 games over three seasons before being released early in 2007.

The Brewers signed him as a free agent two weeks later, and Maldonado started a slow ascent through their organization.

“Off-the-field stuff,” Maldonado said when asked why his tenure with the Angels was so short.

“I was a backup. I was 17 years old, first time going away from home. I wasn’t doing the things I was supposed to be doing. If you don’t do the stuff you have to do, they’re going to release you. They gave me an opportunity here to do my job, and I went from there.”

Maldonado started with the Brewers at Class A West Virginia in 2007 and first crossed paths with Lucroy at Class A Brevard County, the Brewers’ high-A affiliate, in 2008.

He bounced back and forth between levels from that point, even going from Brevard County to Class AA Huntsville to Class AAA Nashville in 2010 before finally getting an opportunity to catch every day in 2011.

Defense was never a question for Maldonado â€" it was offense that posed a problem. But once he finally started receiving regular at-bats, both at Huntsville and then Nashville last year, his numbers started to jump out at observers.

By the time he received a September call-up with the Brewers, Maldonado had hit a combined .287 with 11 home runs and 59 runs batted in. In 39 games with Nashville, he hit .321 with eight homers and 25 RBI.

He saw action in just three games with the Brewers, striking out in his only at-bat. Still, the year as a whole was an encouraging one both for Maldonado and in the view of the organization, which had gone from catcher poor to having three solid options in Lucroy, Kottaras and Maldonado.

Maldonado came into spring training ticketed for Nashville with Lucroy the clear-cut No. 1 and Kottaras on board for another season. He was hitting just .198 with four homers and 13 RBI in 35 games at Nashville before getting the call to Milwaukee.

“I got off to a slow start,” Maldonado said. “Last year I did the same thing, didn’t start hitting until probably May. It’s always a challenge to improve yourself and get better every day.”

Through six games with the Brewers, Maldonado has held up his end of the bargain. He’s hitting .158 overall but is handling an experienced pitching staff well.

Sunday’s 6-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates was something of a showcase for Maldonado. He gunned down the speedy Andrew McCutchen trying to steal second base in the first inning, a huge play with a runner already on third base, and then in the seventh inning hit his first major-league homer, off Juan Cruz.

“Offensively, I know he wasn’t swinging the bat well in Triple-A, but last year he had a really good year,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “And that was the first year that he has had a big number of at-bats. He’s never had that in his career before, and he hit. He hit .300 in Triple-A. Offensively he looks like he sees the ball well, and he’s not chasing a lot of stuff.

“So I’m curious to see offensively what he’s going to do because I know defensively he’s going to be really good. He’s a plus-defender â€" we have no doubt about that.”

While Maldonado calls the game from behind the plate, the Brewers’ veteran pitchers ultimately have the final say on what they throw. Still, Milwaukee starters have gone 4-1 with a 2.41 cumulative earned-run average with him behind the plate.

“Obviously hitting’s going to be the toughest part for him, but I think Maldy realizes he’s a catcher before a hitter,” Lucroy said. “A lot of times the tough thing for the catcher is to separate the two. You have to separate the two when you go out there, and I think he can do that.

“He obviously realizes his No. 1 job right now is to catch, throw guys out, block and receive.”

At 6-foot-1 and 224 pounds, Maldonado looks every bit the part of a catcher. What might surprise some is he’s also well-versed with a scissors and clippers.

Maldonado also is known as “The Barber,” a skill he picked up in his native Puerto Rico. He took a six-week course in 2007, received a license and has been the go-to guy in every clubhouse when it comes to hair ever since.

“He’s good,” said Carlos Gomez, who along with teammates Francisco Rodriguez and Ryan Braun have relied on Maldonado’s skills. “He always cleans it up.”

The Brewers are counting on Maldonado to do the same on the field.