Mauer Says Concussions Blurred His Vision/Walk Away Joe merged threads

[Parker Hageman]

In an interview with the Pioneer Press, Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer said that the concussion he suffered would blur his vision and effect his hitting as a result. 

 

Bright sunshine sometimes triggered blurred vision that Mauer links to the concussion with which he was diagnosed in August 2013 after absorbing at least “two significant blows” from foul tips while he was still catching.

 

[sNIP]

 

“It could be a lot of things,” Mauer continued. “There are so many different symptoms. For me it was lighting, I couldn’t really pick up the ball. It was blurry at times. Where I am here versus last year at this time, I can tell my workouts are better.”

 

[sNIP]

 

“I don’t want that to be kind of an excuse. If I’m out there, I’m out there. That’s just the way I am,” Mauer said. “There are times I’ve gone up to the plate and I just couldn’t pick up the ball. That’s part of the frustration because I’m trying to do everything I can to get back. It just takes time.”

 

 

In order to combat that symptom, Mauer says he will bat with sunglasses in attempts to improve his ability to track pitches. Over the last three years, Mauer's swinging strike rate has jumped significantly (from 4% in 2010-2012 to 6% from 2013-2015) and the rate at which he hit the ball hard dropped in that type as well (from 35% to 31%). Then again, Mauer's numbers in the daytime didn't really take a turn for the worse until just this season. 

 

 

Will the sunglasses help Mauer regain his former elite hitting status? It couldn't hurt, right?

 

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view7/2678677/jack-parkman-shimmy-o.gif

[Hambino the Great]

NOPE

[Loosey]

Did Nike have some light filtering contact lenses that they were trying to use on Troy Williamson?  IIRC he had problems finding the ball in the lights at the stadiums and in the sunlight.  If that was true he also had problems catching the football on top of the vision problems.  But you would think there would be something to filter the light so he wouldn't have to use sunglasses. 

[HitInAPinch]

A little surprised he hasn't worn them before.

[gunnarthor]

Well, I really hope he's completely healthy.  If he can come back to hit like he did a few years ago, that would be a huge help for us.  Plus, it would be nice if he could have a healthy life after baseball.

[MileHighTwinsFan]

Does this provide some insight into the Park signing?  Is it possible that Joe will be taking more days off during day games?  Seems like this could have significant implications for the roster.

 

I can now see how Arcia makes this team as a back up outfielder and DH or that Vargas could get a shot.

 

 

 

[D. Hocking]

 

Does this provide some insight into the Park signing?  Is it possible that Joe will be taking more days off during day games?  Seems like this could have significant implications for the roster.

 

This was me in more conspiracy mode, but when they signed Park, I was wondering if there was going to be some sort of announcement later involving Mauer.  

[Seth Stohs]

 

Well, I really hope he's completely healthy.  If he can come back to hit like he did a few years ago, that would be a huge help for us.  Plus, it would be nice if he could have a healthy life after baseball.

 

I don't think expecting a 32 year old with 10 years of big league catching (plus minor league and amateur) should be expected to hit .330. Especially now that offense is so depressed. However, Morneau won a batting title in his third year after his concussion, and Denard Span competed for a batting title in his third year after the concussion.

[savvyspy]

I just hope the team puts him in the best position to succeed. His stats clearly show he was much better in night games last year. Maybe they could give him significantly more off days for day games and mix in Sano or Plouffe at 1st. Mauer can be very frustrating but brain injuries are really serious and the best thing the team could do is try to get him in spots where he is the most comfortable. Hopefully some sort of sunglasses work if needed but that can be hit or miss.

[Drew]

I still love Joe and continue to hold out hope that he might have a 2 or 3 .300/.385/.420 type of seasons left in him. Concussions are weird and can impact people in all kinds of different ways. Maybe using sunglasses doesn't help but it's nice to hear that there is at least something he can try. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Wait. I thought Mauer was 100% healthy, as evidenced by the fact he wasn't drooling on himself, wearing a foam helmet, and screaming "CONCUSSION SYMPTOMS" every time he was within ten feet of microphone.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

However, Morneau won a batting title in his third year after his concussion, and Denard Span competed for a batting title in his third year after the concussion.

Morneau had his disastrous comeback in 2011, but then had a 112 OPS+ in his first full year back from the concussion, and had largely abandoned power hitting by the time he won his batting title in Colorado.  Mauer doesn't have that option.  It would be nice to see him cut his K's down like Morneau did, though, and squeeze some more effectiveness out that way.

 

And Span's hitting issues started before his concussion, and he was only 30 when he "bounced back" (likely had nothing to do with the concussion, though).

 

It seems Mauer has fallen harder, longer than those guys.  This news about his vision isn't encouraging either.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Wait. I thought Mauer was 100% healthy, as evidenced by the fact he wasn't drooling on himself, wearing a foam helmet, and screaming "CONCUSSION SYMPTOMS" every time he was within ten feet of microphone.

I thought he was healthy because he and the team said he was healthy, and he was getting more playing time than ever before in his career.  If his vision was regularly blurry last year, it's pretty inexcusable to push him like that.

[USAFChief]

 

Wait. I thought Mauer was 100% healthy, as evidenced by the fact he wasn't drooling on himself, wearing a foam helmet, and screaming "CONCUSSION SYMPTOMS" every time he was within ten feet of microphone.

And I thought Mauer was healthy based on his own statements:

 

http://www.foxsports.com/north/story/minnesota-twins-joe-mauer-hopes-to-reap-rewards-of-healthy-offseason-022815

[DaveW]

I really hope this helps. In addition to him having a good year helping the team, I think another 2-3 years of .320+ BA gives him enough to make the hall of fame.

 

Joe is a class act and one of the best catchers of all time, hopefully this helps!

[DocBauer]

Not playing a game of he said, they said, I said, but, this is interesting news considering there have been a lot of split discussions concerning Mauer suffering post concussion issues vs Mauer aging and just losing it. (Or not working hard, etc)

 

My question, and it's an honest one, not trolling, do we applaud Mauer for being a gamer and trying to play and help his team, or, do we chastise Mauer and the Twins for not telling anyone and continuing to play Mauer, particularly in high leverage lineup spots, despite knowing of this issue?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

My question, and it's an honest one, not trolling, do we applaud Mauer for being a gamer and trying to play and help his team, or, do we chastise Mauer and the Twins for not telling anyone and continuing to play Mauer, particularly in high leverage lineup spots, despite knowing of this issue?

That's a tough one.  I think the team deserves much of the blame for the latter issues, they have no plausible deniability here and as I mentioned above, they used Mauer more than ever before last year, which just seems like the wrong way to approach this.

[TheLeviathan]

At this point I don't even believe Mauer, good or better, about where he is at health wise.  Everything seems trumped up either way.

 

I just hope he is productive.  If he is - great.  If he's not - well, then we need to start being honest about who he is now as a player.

[gunnarthor]

 

My question, and it's an honest one, not trolling, do we applaud Mauer for being a gamer and trying to play and help his team, or, do we chastise Mauer and the Twins for not telling anyone and continuing to play Mauer, particularly in high leverage lineup spots, despite knowing of this issue?

I'm not sure it's even that simple.  It wasn't like he was blind - the ball was blurry sometimes, not all the time.  He probably thought he was ok and if he did tell the team, it was probably more along the lines of "yeah, I'm good to go."  

[Halsey Hall]

Not all day games are played in bright sunshine.

 

I feel moving to Target Field hurt Joe a lot.  He's just not strong enough for Target, most home runs in the dump were into the first two rows, which falls short at Target. 

 

I just hope he can get back to hitting .300 plus for next season.  He's certainly a drain on the team at the rate he's been lately.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Wait. I thought Mauer was 100% healthy, as evidenced by the fact he wasn't drooling on himself, wearing a foam helmet, and screaming "CONCUSSION SYMPTOMS" every time he was within ten feet of microphone.

ok I get it - attempt at a joke.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Also if I recall, when Mauer was catching, he experimented with the "hockey goalie" catcher masks which were designed to absorb blows much more effectively than traditional masks. Like most other catchers, Mauer declined using the safer mask because it wasn't as comfortable.

[DrNeau]

Hope you hit .400, Joe. Pull through this and show us something!

[Brock Beauchamp]

ok I get it - attempt at a joke.

No, it's a blunt statement on how subtle - while simultaneously devastating - brain injuries can be to a person. It's not as simple as "I feel good" because the brain can trick you into feeling "perfect" while compensating for all sorts of crap happening to your vision, motor skills, etc.

 

Aging and shifts have probably helped Mauer to his dismal recent results but a guy with Mauer's skillset doesn't age overnight to the tune of losing .140 OPS points. Something else is happening here.

[Thrylos]

 

My question, and it's an honest one, not trolling, do we applaud Mauer for being a gamer and trying to play and help his team, or, do we chastise Mauer and the Twins for not telling anyone and continuing to play Mauer, particularly in high leverage lineup spots, despite knowing of this issue?

 

 

Sub "Perkins" for "Mauer" as far as the second half of last season goes, and give yourself an answer.  Similar situation.

 

The thing is that there are a lot of people who are casual Twins fans and do not know Escobar from Santana and they go to the ball games for "the experience" and to see Joe Mauer.  (Because everyone knows Joe.)   I bet that a whole bunch of those partial season ticket holders falls into that category.

 

So Joe being out, hurts the Twins at the gate, so they need Joe in, until they find another Joe.

 

It is not for baseball reasons, it is for business reasons.  The same reasons that they had to sign him ot that contract....

[Thrylos]

Re: vision issues and concussions.

 

Nothing new.  Has always been on the CDC checklist.

[ken]

I'm glad he has finally came around to blame the concussions.  That way we can ignore the increased strike outs and reduced contact rate before the concussions.

[Don Walcott]

We should find out if he's better pretty soon, as there are lots of ABs in the daytime during Spring Training.

 

Maybe he needs to use the sun-glare black more liberally -- like John Randle.  I'd pay to see that.

[Boom Boom]

We knew he'd had a concussion, and we know that his hitting has been worse. This is just Joe saying that the two are related.

 

If he was on a hall of fame trajectory and the concussion robbed him of it, I feel a little sorry for him. But he's got to give the team more than he has the last two years.

[USAFChief]

No, it's a blunt statement on how subtle - while simultaneously devastating - brain injuries can be to a person. It's not as simple as "I feel good" because the brain can trick you into feeling "perfect" while compensating for all sorts of crap happening to your vision, motor skills, etc.

Aging and shifts have probably helped Mauer to his dismal recent results but a guy with Mauer's skillset doesn't age overnight to the tune of losing .140 OPS points. Something else is happening here.

I don't think it matters, really, what is going on. Whether it's concussion related, or not.

 

What matters is, if the Twins are to be a WS contender, I don't think they can accommodate a first baseman sucking up 650 PAs with a sub-.750 OPS.

 

So either the production returns to .850 plus, or the uncomfortable truth starts to force some reluctant hands to make some painful decisions about playing time. Probably sooner than later.

 

What he WAS isn't the issue.