He had the choice in Houston - he didn’t have the choice with the Mets… but ultimately he complained about the Mets ineptitude and made it very clear to the Astros he wanted out of NY and back in Houston. I don’t think anyone is saying Verlander will refuse to pitch or something like that - he has had favorite catchers over the years, but he has not always had a single catcher in his career. So now he can go with Diaz, and maybe he loves Diaz after not having the choice of Maldonado. However, if he doesn’t want to throw to Diaz - he has a well qualified game manager in VC. I personally want him to have him pitch to whomever he is comfortable pitching to and if that isn’t Diaz - then he can DH or play first. However - I suspect if Diaz keeps hitting like Roy Campanella, all of a sudden they will want him behind the dish. Even Mike Piazza, who was garbage behind the plate was known as good at handling pitchers eventually.
