Joe Mauer and his home run

[thatoneguy]

Mauer's batting .352 with an OPS of .856 in July. Mock him all you want, but those are fantastic numbers.

The primary question is whether he can maintain his career production to this point long-term if he stays at catcher, which is what makes him most valuable. My gut says no, or at least not as an everyday catcher. I can see him catching 80-90 games a year, though, and splitting the rest of the time between 1B and LF.

His defense at 1B is also great, especially considering how new to the position he is.

[RiverFish]

Is there an explanation from Mauer or baseball "experts" as to why he does not hit more homers, even by accident?

[PierBridge]

Quote:

Mauer's batting .352 with an OPS of .856 in July. Mock him all you want, but those are fantastic numbers.

What a drag having the 1st or 2nd best hitter/player in baseball on our team!

I will say I don't think he's totally healthy yet which is always the big concern with him.

[PierBridge]

Is there an explanation from Mauer or baseball "experts" as to why he does not hit more homers, even by accident?

One, is because he's a line-drive hitter that is concerned with getting on base in which he is undoubtedly the best in the game at bar none.

[Dylan33]

I get the fact that he hits for average, not power. But, he is a big strong dude that is making a TON of money. For the amount of money he gets paid, there is NO WAY I am giving him a free pass on his lack of power. You would think that even by accident he would have 15-20 bombs per year.

That being said, I like the guy. I like having him on the Twins. But he needs to man up and hit the ball hard sometimes.

[Big Dave2]

I hope he apologizes for it taking so long again, then he can be everyone's hero again.

[Big Dave2]

What a drag having the 1st or 2nd best hitter/player in baseball on our team!

One month of stats is meaningless. I'm sure Delmon Young was the 1st or 2nd best hitter in baseball at one point last year. Carlos Gomez lead the major leagues in home runs this year.............for the 1st 2 days of the season!

[B. Amish]

One month of stats is meaningless. I'm sure Delmon Young was the 1st or 2nd best hitter in baseball at one point last year. Carlos Gomez lead the major leagues in home runs this year.............for the 1st 2 days of the season!

ahem. 3 batting titles.

[Big Dave2]

ahem. 3 batting titles.

Thats in the past, I'm pretty sure he's not winning a batting title this year. Babe Ruth was pretty good at one time too but how is he now?

[B. Amish]

Thats in the past, I'm pretty sure he's not winning a batting title this year. Babe Ruth was pretty good at one time too but how is he now?

so, one month's of stats are meaningless and so is a career's worth of stats????

[Born2Fish]

I think Babe Ruth is in the HOF and considered by most one of the best hitters to play the game?

[brian6715]

I think what Dave is saying is that if you wanted one at bat from one player right now, today, he wouldn't want it to be Mauer. I agree 100%, and if you would want Mauer to be your guy when the game is on the line TODAY between all the players in the majors, you do not know baseball.

I could think of 10 guys I would rather have. Joe Mauer is CURRENTLY the most overpaid player in the AL and the most overrated.

But to tell the to the baby jesus lovers of MN is impossible.

[zepman]

Mauer is now an over-sized Ichiro...and will remain so until he finds some gap and HR power.

23 million for a singles hitter...he can win all the batting titles in the world and if he doesn't bring some power with it nobody will care.

I don't.

[Big Dave2]

I think Babe Ruth is in the HOF and considered by most one of the best hitters to play the game?

Of course he is but that was in the past, what I am saying is I don't think he would help any team right now since he is a little bit DEAD.

My point about Mauer is that he is not and was not ever worth 23 million per year when he never plays a full season, is good but not sensational defensively, has ok speed but not blazing fast and does not hit for power at all. The catcher position is not the place to stick 23 mil.

[Born2Fish]

I think defensively he looked pretty good when he was playing 1st. I might agree that 23 million is a lot to spend on ANYONE playing a game. But the backlash from NOT signing him would of probably been worse. And tell me what does power have to do with winning games? As long as he can get on base, the guys behind him have a chance to knock around a few hits and possibly get him home. Can't score many runs if you don't have a few guys on base.

[ted4887]

Catcher seems like a perfect place to stick a lot of money. The catcher is your on the field manager. He has managed our young pitching staff very well over the years. Not only that, but has a .320 career batting average. I'm perfectly fine with spending money on a proven player, rather than paying someone like Bryce Harper or Steven Strasburg even half of what Joe makes.

[Big Dave2]

Catcher seems like a perfect place to stick a lot of money. The catcher is your on the field manager. He has managed our young pitching staff very well over the years. Not only that, but has a .320 career batting average. I'm perfectly fine with spending money on a proven player, rather than paying someone like Bryce Harper or Steven Strasburg even half of what Joe makes.

The reason that catcher is not a good place to spend all your money is because of the nature of the position, a catcher will NEVER play as many games on average as the other positions in the field.

Even though Joe Mauer hits for a very good average, he does no more to help his team than someone who hits for a lower average but plays more games.

Last season Joe Mauer hit .327 in 137 games and 510 at bats. He had 167 hits and 9 of those hits were HRs and 75 RBI.

Michael Cuddyer on the other hand hit only .271 but he played in 157 games and had 609 at bats. He had 165 hits, 14 HRs and 81 RBI.

Plus Mauer plays his defensive position much less than any other position on the field. A lot of those at bats came from games where he was not playing a defensive position but rather DHing or pinch hitting.

Did Mauer really help his team any more than Cuddyer did? You can't help your team when you are sitting on the bench.

[Big Dave2]

For what the Twins pay Mauer you could probably get 3 players that hit .270-.280 and each will give you the same amount of total production as Joe Mauer.

[Big Dave2]

Mauer is now an over-sized Ichiro...and will remain so until he finds some gap and HR power.

23 million for a singles hitter...he can win all the batting titles in the world and if he doesn't bring some power with it nobody will care.

I don't.

Ichiro Suzuki has had over 200 hits in every year he has been in the majors and has never made over $18 mil. Mauer has NEVER had 200 hits in a season.

[mainbutter]

Is there an explanation from Mauer or baseball "experts" as to why he does not hit more homers, even by accident?

He doesn't lift the ball. He hits line drives and ground-outs. I often wonder if he should pair up with the coach who taught Bautista to lift.. that might prove fruitful.

[zepman]

He also gets himself into too many 2 strike counts...almost every at bat. That leads to more of a defensive swing rather than turning on the ball. That's great for a lead-off hitter and a guy who wants to bat for a high average but it will never lead to more power.

Those 1st and 2nd strikes are the pitches he needs to turn on and blast...yet he chooses to "take" them everytime.

[thatoneguy]

He also gets himself into too many 2 strike counts...almost every at bat. That leads to more of a defensive swing rather than turning on the ball. That's great for a lead-off hitter and a guy who wants to bat for a high average but it will never lead to more power.

Those 1st and 2nd strikes are the pitches he needs to turn on and blast...yet he chooses to "take" them everytime.

agreed. i get that it's part of his (wildly successful) hitting approach, but it's fair to say that it prolly does hurt his power potential.

[mainbutter]

Yup agreed about those pitch counts. Surprisingly though I've seen more than just one or two at bats lately where a pitcher HASN'T thrown him a fastball down the middle for the first pitch. Joe NEVER swings at pitch #1, and I thought all of the AL has figured that out already.

Richard Bremer mentioned in a broadcast a little while ago that he thinks that Joe likes to see that first pitch or two to get a mental timing on it, and apparently it's sure not unheard of for hitters to do, but I do wish he would be more willing to turn on a first pitch fastball down the middle and crush it over a wall. Don't give those AL Central pitchers he sees the most often a free strike at every at bat.

[PierBridge]

I sure hope Mauer can pull this out, only .002 back!!!!!!

Go Joe!!!!

[PierBridge]

Seaking 4th batting title link