Former SF Giants utilityman hits .400 in Astros' ALDS victory
Former SF Giants center fielder and jack-of-all-trades utilityman Mauricio Dubón won a World Series with the Houston Astros last season. He made the most of his ten innings of work in the Astros' Division Series win over the Minnesota Twins, hitting .400! In five at-bats.
Dubón is usually manager Dusty Baker's top choice as a ninth-inning defensive option, coming in to play center field and shift usual starter Chas McCormick to left for Michael Brantley. But thanks to Dubón's sparkling career record against Sonny Gray - 2-for-7 with a double - he got a rare start in Game 3 and proceeded to go 2-for-5.
How did he do on defense? Dubón saw exactly one chance in his 11 innings in the field, a fly ball from almost-Giant Carlos Correa in the eighth inning of Game 3. In part, that's because the Twins struck out five times in Dubón's two ninth innings, part of their whopping 52 strikeouts in the four-game series.
Originally acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019 for Ray Black and Drew Pomeranz, the Giants traded Dubón to the Astros last year for catcher/infielder Michael Papierski, who played five games for the team, going 0-for-10 with a walk. He was later released when the Giants signed Yermin Mercedes.
Dubón was the victim of a roster crunch for the Giants, although in hindsight, it's shocking that the team thought they had no use for an excellent defensive outfielder last season. Or an excellent defensive anything. He finished his four-year Giants career with a slash line of 259/.302/.396, with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs.
Now Dubón and the Astros move on to face the Texas Rangers in an all-Lone Star State series. The winner gets the rights to Pace Picante sauce, a DVD set of "Friday Night Lights" and the rights to all outstanding stock in Enron.
Will Mauricio Dubón get a start? That depends on the health of Rangers starters Jon Gray and Max Scherzer. If one of those guys can't go, Texas could give Andrew Heaney a start, against whom Dubón is 4-for-12 lifetime with a home run. Otherwise, we're most likely to see Dubón standing in center field, watching Astros closer Ryan Pressly strike our Rangers in the ninth.
