Martín Benjamín Maldonado (born August 16, 1986) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher in the San Diego Padres organization.

The New York Times described him in October 2021, following a season in which Maldonado batted .172, as “arguably the worst hitter in baseball,” and Sports Illustrated wrote that "he quite possibly could be the worst-hitting everyday player in MLB history", although he has also been cited as a key factor in the success of the Astro pitching staff.

[2][3] As a member of the Astros, Maldonado was the backstop for two American League (AL) pennant-winning teams, which included a World Series championship in 2022.

Maldonado was called up to the Brewers again in May 2012 when starting catcher Jonathan Lucroy went down with a freak hand injury, due to his wife dropping a suitcase on it.

[15] On July 26, 2018, the Angels traded Maldonado to the Houston Astros in exchange for pitcher prospect Patrick Sandoval and international pool space cash.

[17] The Kansas City Royals signed Maldonado nearly half a year later to a one-year, $2.5 million contract on March 11, 2019, following a season-ending elbow injury to catcher Salvador Pérez.

[20] Maldonado caught a combined no-hitter versus the Seattle Mariners on August 3, 2019, hurled by Aaron Sanchez, Will Harris, Joe Biagini, and Chris Devenski.

[13] He hit his first career home run in World Series play in Game 2 in the ninth inning versus Washington Nationals reliever Javy Guerra in a 12–3 Houston defeat.

"[30] The New York Times described him in October 2021, following a season in which Maldonado batted .172, as “arguably the worst hitter in baseball,” and Sports Illustrated wrote that "he quite possibly could be the worst-hitting everyday player in MLB history.

[32] On May 6, 2022, Maldonado homered in the second inning versus the Detroit Tigers, providing the eventual decisive run in a 3–2 Astros win.

[33] Batting .116 entering the May 19 game, Maldonado doubled in eighth inning versus the Texas Rangers to provide insurance runs in a 5–1 Astros win.

[35] On June 25, 2022, Maldonado caught a combined no-hitter of the New York Yankees, delivered by Cristian Javier, Héctor Neris, and Ryan Pressly.

[37] With Maldonado behind the plate the following game, José Urquidy started the contest with 6+1⁄3 hitless innings versus the Yankees until a Giancarlo Stanton home run.

The no-hit streak spanned 16+1⁄3 innings, tying an expansion-era record by the 1981 Astros pitching staff versus the 1981 Dodgers.

[40] The following game, Maldonado was behind the plate for 20 strikeouts by Astros pitching, including the first six innings by Framber Valdez, Neris (7th), Rafael Montero (8th), and Pressly (9th), establishing a new franchise record for a nine-inning contest.

[41][b][42] Maldonado caught a shutout of the Oakland Athletics on July 16 and hit his third career grand slam to lead a 5–0 win.

[44] On September 5, Maldonado caught a 1–0 shutout of Texas with Hunter Brown hurling the first six innings and winning his major league debut.

[c][54] Following the regular season, Maldonado was recognized with the Darryl Kile Award due to his cooperation with the media following games, providing salient insight, and for his handling of one of the most successful pitching staffs in baseball.

After winning the World Series, he revealed that he had sustained a fractured hand and sports hernia on separate occasions in the month of August, but elected to continue to play through the injuries.

[58] Maldonado hit his 100th career home run on June 13, 2023, in the seventh inning off Chad Kuhl of the Washington Nationals at Minute Maid Park.

[60] On January 5, 2024, Maldonado signed a one-year, $4.25 million contract with the Chicago White Sox that also contained a club option for 2025.

[65] During the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), Maldonado caught an ongoing perfect game versus Israel, which ended by a 10–0 final when he scored on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth inning that invoked the tournament's mercy rule.

[68] Maldonado's throwing arm has attracted praise, as he dispatched 19 of 48 would-be basestealers during the 2021 season, the fourth-best caught-stealing percentage in the league.

[70][13] In spite of his low offensive productivity, Houston acquired Maldonado at consecutive trade deadlines, pursued him multiple times in free agency, and signed him to a contract extension in 2021.

During his Gold-Glove winning campaign in Los Angeles in 2017 Maldonado first made an impression on McCullers, causing him to repeatedly urge then-Astros manager A. J. Hinch to acquire the veteran catcher.