Interesting Baserunning Article

[Whammy]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-statcast-baserunning-data-ichiro-suzuki/

 

Eddie Rosario appeared in the "top 10 average max speed" list, and Mauer made an appearance at the end.

Mauer's not that much slower than Charlie Blackmon (who has 40 SB) but Mauer is one of the worst and getting leads and Blackmon is one of the best.

 

Anyway, I thought that was interesting and in general it was a pretty interesting article

[jimmer]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-statcast-baserunning-data-ichiro-suzuki/

 

Eddie Rosario appeared in the "top 10 average max speed" list, and Mauer made an appearance at the end.

Mauer's not that much slower than Charlie Blackmon (who has 40 SB) but Mauer is one of the worst and getting leads and Blackmon is one of the best.

 

Anyway, I thought that was interesting and in general it was a pretty interesting article

Mauer is also one of the smartest baserunners in the game. Not base stealing but taking the extra base by knowing what he's doing out there.

 

And, you know, most guys who played catcher for a huge chunk aren't great base stealers, nor are too many 1Bs.

[drock2190]

I refuse to believe that Mauer is faster then Ichiro.

 

I know Ichiro is like 40 and 10 years older but no way, Ichiro would lose a race to Joe Mauer.

[drock2190]

Also Denards Span high secondary lead explains all the frustrating pickoffs he was caught when he played as a Twin.

[Squirrel]

Even though this article mentions Mauer (it mentions other players, too), this is not a thread (or article) on Mauer. It's a thread on base running. Keep it there. Thanks.

[biggentleben]

I personally think Twins fans have been able to see three of the best base running vs. base stealing difference examples in the last 20 years, after having possibly the best of all time play a good chunk of his Hall of Fame career here. Rod Carew to me was the best person ever at taking an extra base, hitting first base at such an angle as to get second easily, and hitting the bases just right in order to clear a triple on a hit that at least 2/3 of the league would have been happy with a stand-up double.

 

The modern guys I'd put on the great base running, albeit not great base stealers, list would be Mauer, Span, and Cristian Guzman. Guzman was possibly as close to Carew as I've ever seen going to third on a double when he was a Twin.

 

I try to explain this to many who debate the speed of a player because of his amount or lack of stolen bases to no avail. They often are two very different skill sets.