Thread: Article: Mauer Elected and "Fans" Revolt

I'm so tired of people hating on Mauer. After last season everyone complained about the number of games played and his low production in those games - well deserved. But this year he's played in nearly all of them, he's #1 in OBP, and 5th in hitting. He's been great this year! But now people are complaining he shouldn't be an All-Star?! Are you crazy!? Mauer is never going to have a high homer total - his 28 performance a few years ago was an outlier. He's been really good this year, just as good as he was in 2010 when the Twins won 90 games - don't blame him for Bill Smith's terrible decision making that resulted in a Triple A pitching staff, trading Hardy away for a slice of PB & J sandwich. Here is what Keith Law said today in his Insider article "I would have taken Joe Mauer over Mike Napoli to start behind the plate."

This team isn't winning - people are frustrated. I get that. But be fans - support your team and our players. Joe is playing hard and playing well. I was all for the questioning last year but this isn't the Mauer of last year.

I agree with SRP, Mauer's 4.3 pitches per appearance and his ability to work counts helps Willingham and the guys after him. Joe's eye is so good, he knows he can take the first pitch as a strike and still work a favorable or at least even count for him. This wears the pitcher down, it allows the batters behind him see what a guy has, it makes the bullpen work sooner. 17-21 pitches a is what a typical reliever might throw, having them used/gassed earlier is a huge advantage.

As the season wears on catching Joe only 1/2 the games will improve his numbers. At .324/.414/.445 now I can almost guarantee those numbers go up. .332/.420/.460 is where he should end the year if healthy. 10 homers is not out of reach, neither are 75-90RBIs and 75-90Runs scored if you look at full season projections for 150 games. You're also looking at 80-90 walks. As for the RISP...

.319 with runners on.
.358 with RISP
.333 with bases loaded
.409 w/ RISP and 2 outs.
Also he sets the table nicely, hitting .468 when leading off an inning with a .561 OBP.

He's the best non-power hitter in the league, the best hitting catcher, one of the best defensive catchers, the face of a franchise, a commercial icon, and the biggest fan draw since Kirby (RIP). He deserves every penny of his $23 million, and an allstar role.

Thanks to ESPN for the stats.

Originally Posted by kemics

I agree with SRP, Mauer's 4.3 pitches per appearance and his ability to work counts helps Willingham and the guys after him. Joe's eye is so good, he knows he can take the first pitch as a strike and still work a favorable or at least even count for him. This wears the pitcher down, it allows the batters behind him see what a guy has, it makes the bullpen work sooner. 17-21 pitches a is what a typical reliever might throw, having them used/gassed earlier is a huge advantage.

As the season wears on catching Joe only 1/2 the games will improve his numbers. At .324/.414/.445 now I can almost guarantee those numbers go up. .332/.420/.460 is where he should end the year if healthy. 10 homers is not out of reach, neither are 75-90RBIs and 75-90Runs scored if you look at full season projections for 150 games. You're also looking at 80-90 walks. As for the RISP...

.319 with runners on.
.358 with RISP
.333 with bases loaded
.409 w/ RISP and 2 outs.
Also he sets the table nicely, hitting .468 when leading off an inning with a .561 OBP.

He's the best non-power hitter in the league, the best hitting catcher, one of the best defensive catchers, the face of a franchise, a commercial icon, and the biggest fan draw since Kirby (RIP). He deserves every penny of his $23 million, and an allstar role.

Thanks to ESPN for the stats.

let's just frame this post and say argument over. Well done.

Originally Posted by kemics

I agree with SRP, Mauer's 4.3 pitches per appearance and his ability to work counts helps Willingham and the guys after him. Joe's eye is so good, he knows he can take the first pitch as a strike and still work a favorable or at least even count for him. This wears the pitcher down, it allows the batters behind him see what a guy has, it makes the bullpen work sooner. 17-21 pitches a is what a typical reliever might throw, having them used/gassed earlier is a huge advantage.

Let's not overlook Denard's role in this as well. By the time the opposing pitcher gets through Mauer in the first, he's generally thrown every pitch he has two or three times. Span and Mauer make pitchers work.

Originally Posted by kemics

At .324/.414/.445 now I can almost guarantee those numbers go up.

I'm obviously quite pro-Kid St. Paul. I am on record that thinking people often go way, way too far in trying to knock him down for whatever reasons I can't even fathom (as stated in another thread). But I think "almost guarantee" is a little (or a lot) strong there. Especially with the noted (also elsewhere in many places) frequency of ground balls this year. I feel like it's gotten better in just the very recent past, but haven't looked to see if that's true.

Certainly you can't be angry that Mauer was named to the All-star game - he is one of the best catchers in the league - if not the best and I am talking both this half-year and over his career timeframe. Some of the frustration from fans probably comes from the fact that the perception is that he has not performed as well after he signed the $23M contract as he did before he signed it. I say perception because I have not broken down the numbers before and after. We know the HR's are down and the whole bi-lateral leg weakness episode last year had a negative impact on his image.

The game is an "All-Star" game. One can see clearly that the large markets have a bigger say on who makes the team. I know when I went to the All-Star game in Atlanta years ago, I wanted to see the big names or the face of the organization not necessarilly who is having a good season. Does the manager of an All-Star team pick Chipper Jones or Bryce Harper? For many fans at an All-Star game this may be there only chance to see a future Hall of Fame player like Chipper Jones. If a young kid travels 200 miles for his first Twins baseball game, which player would he be very disappointed not seeing play, Willingham or Mauer?

Originally Posted by PopRiveter

We got 99 problems but Joe ain't one.

This.

I bet these same guys that hate on Mauer would hate on Carew for the same reasons, no power. Imagine if Boggs and Gwynn had played for the Twins, alot more complaints that they don't hit for power. Let's appreciate what we have here, a future HOFer and one of the best pure hitters of this or any era.

I blogged about all this hate for Mauer a little while ago myself. His current stats are right smack in line with 2009 which wasn't too shabby a season for him in itself and his doubles are actually up since then. I have no expectations for the 2010 Mauer to reappear but at the same time I have no regrets in the Twins retaining the current Mauer.

Mauer didn't pick himself to be an All-Star, so I don't get the haters at all. It would have been nice for Willingham as he hasn't been to an All-Star game, but how can people take that out on Joe.... I just don't understand. Mauer is having an outstanding season. Get off his case!

Most people ripping Mauer are devoted to a certain 3-6:30 radio show...

Makes no sense to me. I wonder if the they are prepared to boo and hate until 2018. That sounds exhausting to me.

I do love it when (exhausted from Twit Tweets) I can see so many logical, reasonable and impassioned arguments. Nothing to add but bravo Paul, SRP, kemics, Twinsgrl, and Riverbrian...thanks for the rational discourse.

Part of the problem Mauer has is he's not particularly media-friendly (he doesn't say much, speaks in cliches, and would generally rather just go about his business and be left alone), which opens the door for some twits in the local sports media to a) clock him regularly for perceived flaws in his production, or b) encourage fans to do the same. (Dan Barreiro, please pick up the white courtesy phone...Dan Barreiro, to the white phone)

Coming off a terrible, injury-plagued season where the entire team collapsed, Joe became an easy target of blame for the lazy and uninformed, and so that's why you see crap like this. Mauer's the best catcher in the AL right now, even though he's only played half his games there.

Mauer is an all-star. Willingham is having a very nice year, but the competition at OF is a lot tougher. Plouffe's surge probably came a little bit too late, and his start was so awful that you can't object too much to leaving him out.