Padres May Not Make Major Change at Catcher After All: Report

The San Diego Padres are dealing with a catcher conundrum after Martin Maldonado and Elias Diaz have struggled to get going offensively.

The Padres are not getting production from the catcher spot in the lineup, which has tended to hinder the offense's momentum as a whole.

Diaz is batting .198/.270/.307 with five home runs in his 79 appearances for San Diego this season.

His defense behind the dish and framing is good, but over his 200 at-bats, he is significantly below replacement level in terms of creating runs.

Somehow, Maldonado is hitting worse, hitting .187/.227/.313 with four home runs and 12 RBIs. He is valued at -1.0 WAR.

Despite both of the veteran catchers' struggles, the organization may not be considering a change to the platoon.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that there were discussions about adding Luis Campusano into the rotation, but the team appears to have opted against it.

"The Padres may still add a catcher at the trade deadline, but they have other pressing needs and Maldonado is highly valued by manager Shildt, the pitching coaches and the pitchers," Acee wrote in a story.

"And there is a strong reluctance to make a change when those pitchers have been so integral to the Padres winning as much as they have with Darvish and Michael King having missed so much time.

"There was a sentiment from multiple people in the organization that the time had come to move on from Maldonado and perhaps give Luis Campusano a shot while the team searched for outside help.

"But there is not an appetite to alter the dynamic between the catchers and a starting rotation that has outperformed expectations given the absences of two of its top pitchers."

The Padres should be aggressive at the MLB trade deadline as they try to improve the roster.

Catcher isn't the only weakness on the roster; they could use some more pitching depth and a left fielder as well.

The National League is tightly contested this season, and San Diego cannot afford to sit on their hands if they want to topple the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers or the Chicago Cubs.

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