This will be Yainer Diaz's biggest challenge in 2024

This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

One of the biggest storylines for the Astros entering Spring Training will be the evolution of catcher Yainer Diaz, who is taking over as the starter this year and will be asked to handle the entire pitching staff. There’s no question Diaz can hit – he batted .282 last year with 23 homers and 60 RBIs in 104 games – but getting comfortable catching veteran arms like Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez will be his biggest challenge.

Diaz, who finished fifth in American League Rookie of the Year voting while backing up veteran Martín Maldonado behind the plate last year, said Saturday he’s excited about the opportunity to take over as the starter. Barring an injury, he’ll be the first catcher other than Maldonado to start on Opening Day for the Astros since Robinson Chirinos in 2019.

“I’m just anxious for the season to start and eager to prove myself and have those guys be able to trust me and know I can do it,” Diaz said. “I’ve been talking to Framber in the offseason off the field, and it’s one of those things where I just try to give him a little bit more confidence in me and try to be friendly with him, not just when we’re talking about the game.”

Valdez, who earned his second career All-Star nod last year before fading in the second half and pitching poorly in the postseason, was handled exclusively last year by Maldonado. After being traded from the Mets to Houston at the Aug. 1 Deadline, Verlander also worked exclusively with Maldonado, who signed with the White Sox in January.

In fact, 35 of the 42 games Diaz started behind the plate last year came with rookie pitchers on the mound. He caught Hunter Brown 17 times, JP France 14 times and Ronel Blanco four times. He also caught three of Brandon Bielak’s starts, and two apiece for Cristian Javier and José Urquidy.

“I think I have a pretty good background with the pitchers and know how to prepare and already know the guys, just having one year under the belt,” Diaz said. “I’ve been able to prepare better.”

Brown, who also worked with Diaz at Triple-A in 2022, knows the catcher very well and believes he’s going to be up to the challenge of handling the entire staff.

“He’s a really talented player,” Brown said. “We saw that last year, and we knew that coming into the year. I’m just excited for him. I’ve had a chance to talk and throw a couple of bullpens to Victor [Caratini] already, so I’m excited to work with him as well.”

The Astros signed Caratini in December to back up Diaz, and the two spent some time together at FanFest on Saturday at Minute Maid Park. Caratini said they’ve been sharing ideas, and he looks forward to working with Diaz more in Spring Training.

“He has really good potential,” Caratini said of Diaz. “He can hit. Everybody knows it. He’s going to take this opportunity to play every day, and I’m happy for him.”

Diaz, 25, admitted he’ll have to become more of a leader on the field as the starting catcher, which means being more vocal.

“That’s something I’ve been working on,” he said. “I am a reserved person, but it’s something I try to work on and hopefully be better at this year and be louder this year, and then next year be even better at it.”