Houston Astros catcher Martin Maldonado will make history on Sunday night, as he'll become the first catcher ever to be "mic'd up" on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.
The network announced the move on Wednesday in anticipation of Sunday's game against the Texas Rangers, which begins at 7 p.m. ET.
This will be a unique experience for ESPN, for Maldonado and for viewers at home. Maldonado is known as one of the best defensive catchers in the game and will be able to provide fans insight into pitch-calling, pitch location, umpire interaction, hitter interaction and more.
It will be interesting to see how far the two parties take this. Will they show Maldonado going out to the mound to talk with his pitcher during tough moments? Will they ask him what he's going to say to a pitcher on his way out to the mound or will they ask him for a synopsis of what he said as he walks back to catcher? Will they ask him for insight about a hitter as he's in the box?
We've never really seen this before. At the all-star game, we saw starting pitchers like Alek Manoah mic'd up, but never the catcher.
Maldonado, 36, is in his 13th year in the majors. He helped the Astros win the World Series in 2022 and was an integral part of leading the pitching staff.
He's also played for the Milwaukee Brewers, the Los Angeles Angels, the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago Cubs.
The Astros and Rangers kick off their series tonight at 8:10 p.m. ET.
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