30 Games, 30 Astros

#26: Mauricio Dubon

Here we go with another Swiss Army Knife. I told you that this was coming. Mauricio Dubon came to the team in a trade in which most Astros fans probably didn’t care about. Like sometimes I have to remind myself that he was a part of the 2022 World Series team. What was a pretty unnoticeable beginning to his stint with the Astros, turned into him easily being a fan favorite. Instant vibes guy on the team and you could tell the impact/influence he had on the international players on the team.

Mauricio is one of the easiest guys to cheer on in the MLB. He does absolutely anything he can to be valuable to a team, he always has a smile on his face, and, despite being a role player, he was a real leader in the clubhouse. It was such a luxury to have someone like Dubi on the team that could come in regardless of who got hurt or who needed a day off. Literally the only position he didn’t play for the Astros was catcher, but don’t let that convince you he couldn’t. There was one game last year where Diaz and Caratini were in the lineup and Dubi was the emergency catcher. He almost got put in too.

Previously in this series, I talked pretty highly of Marwin Gonzalez. Mauricio Dubon was a better utility player. Obviously the 2 Gold Gloves speak for themselves, but at the plate, yes, he always swung early, but he was a productive player for the Astros. Obviously, I get that baseball is a business and Mauricio had earned the amount of money that was coming his way. but it sucks that we had to trade him. I’m excited for him to hopefully get every day playing time with the Braves to start the season.

My wife was not an Astros fan when we met, but she quickly gravitated towards Dubi being her favorite player because of the joy he played with and his personality. Our house will always be fans of Mauricio Dubon and I wish him nothing but the best. We will miss him in Houston.