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TV crew & interview with Gardy state that Butera is catching Cole tonight instead of Mauer since Drew has worked with him before & they dont want him to have a new catcher as well to think about.
Drew has caught him twice in April......13th & 18th ONLY for a total of 12 innings.
Mauer is a 3 TIME GOLD GLOVE WINNER......tho that award is a joke on itself.
What kind of indictment is this on Mauer's ability to catch anymore as he's started less than half the games this year.
Mauer has played in 43 games so far this year, and other then a minor injury I think he has only sat out one other game. At this point the bench is basically non existent and for whatever reason Butera is hitting pretty well so far this year (surely this won't last).Quote:
Originally Posted by greengoblinrulz
As long as our bench is so thin (seriously who was he taking at bats away from tonight? Plouffe? Komatsu? Mastronni?) and Butera continues to get on base you might as well DH/1B Mauer as much as possible to keep him fresh. Komatsu and Mastronni should be no where near a major league roster and Plouffe's mediocre production doesn't force you to play him everyday as well.
Taking ABs away from Ryan Doumit tonight....that's a lil better option than the other 3.
Mainly, I take it as a slam on Mauers ability to hande the pitchers.....which the team used to say was a strength of his.
I am still of belief that I would rather have Mauer catch 75% of gms & take a day off when needed rather than play everday & catch 50%.
Oh yeah, Doumit, I guess he has been "healthy" the past couple days, but who knows if he was available tonight. If he was I imagine he would have PH at least?Quote:
Originally Posted by greengoblinrulz
I don't think its a knock on Mauer's ability to handle a pitcher, I think its just more a comfort thing for De Vries who was most likely going to be beyond amped up as there is/was a good chance this will be his only start in the majors for his career (or close to it). Any sort of familiarity for him couldn't have hurt. Also, for whatever freak reason, Butera is on a hot streak at this point, it won't last but I don't really have a problem giving him at bats as long as he is having an OPS over .850!
I think the plan still is for Mauer to catch that many games, the reason he has played so much DH and 1st base thus far is that both Doumit and Morneau have been banged up a bit. Once Doumit is back to full strength I think you see him as the regular DH and giving Mauer a day off from time to time.
Mauer has caught three games in a row exactly once so far this season. That occured this past week (Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday), with an off day thrown in. Other than this past week, he hasn't caught more than 2 games in a row all season.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave
Mauer's days as a full time catcher are likely gone for good. He can't handle it, and/or the team isn't willing to try it.