Raising the Mauer panic level...

[Mr. Brooks]

So you revel in someone doing poorly on the team you claim to love. Not someone, specifically Mauer. Okay. I really find no humor in anyone playing poorly, but okay, I get it. You are here just to jump on Mauer because, well, he's the only one doing poorly on this team. I guess I just don't find these things funny. But to each his/her own.

He didn't say he was laughing at Mauer's struggles. He said he was laughing at the fact that it took 3 years of excuses for some fans to accept the fact he's no longer a good hitter.

Those are two entirety different things to laugh at.

Why did you ask him to clarify if you were going to ignore his clarification?

[TheLeviathan]

I guess I don't know what it will take for people to see that this has nothing to do with injury and likely hasn't for some time.  

 

But another excuse will get lined up after the season and next spring he'll come in wearing magic green shoes that will bring back the Old Mauer or some such nonsense.  

 

Some of you need to get out of Stage 1 of the grief cycle.

[blindeke]

No the issue is that when Mauer and the Twins agreed to the contract it was a fair contract, especially for a home-grown MVP. Then he played very well for another few years, and basically was "worth" the $20M annual salary. Then he got a brain injury. 

 

Try explaining this to anyone in Saint Paul... 

[DrNeau]

 

He didn't say he was laughing at Mauer's struggles. He said he was laughing at the fact that it took 3 years of excuses for some fans to accept the fact he's no longer a good hitter.
Those are two entirety different things to laugh at.
Why did you ask him to clarify if you were going to ignore his clarification?

 

Thanks. Ahh... nothing like some good old straw man arguments and muddy water to support someone's position.

 

Apparently my only reason for being here is to rip Mauer.

 

Not true. I have ripped several players (Perkins, Mauer, Dozier, etc.), and with good reason. Any time I mention Mauer, though, I am attacked.
* He is hitting .260, and is on pace for about 9 HR and 48 RBI.
* He has made statements indicating he doesn't swing a bat until February.
* He has made statements that suggest he puts off training for the upcoming season until spring training.
* He has a concussion in late-August of 2013, then proceeds to report to spring training in 2014, 2015, and 2016 - reporting feeling "great. Sudenly, in 2016, he states he's been suffering from "blurred vision" for 2.5 years (which contradicts his reports of feeling great in consecutive springs). The team has confirmed he never reported the issue over the course of the entire 2.5 years.
* Despite having declining bat speed, he refuses to swing at first-pitch fastballs.
* Anything he pulls, he grounds right into the dirt.
* He tried to bunt recently vs. the O's - in an extremely questionable situation: Bottom of 7, 3-3 tie, 1 out, runner on first (Santana). I just have no idea what he was thinking in that situation.

 

The sad thing is, he is off-limits, in terms of being able to correct him. I wonder... how many years of poor performance will it take until it is acceptable for some constructive criticism in regards to Joe Mauer? 3? We're already at 2.25 years. How about 5? Will 5 years of poor performance be enough? Then will it be acceptable? This is what I think is funny. I'm beyond the point of trying to understand it. I just laugh now, because it makes absolutely zero sense.

 

Of MLB 1B, Mauer is 33rd in RBI, and 35th in HR. There are pitchers with as many HR as Mauer. At some point, the team should formally demand that he make some easily-identifiable changes: training habits, approach at the plate, swing. Many teams demand that their players make adjustments, but in the case of Joe Mauer, I have never observed this, despite following the team incredibly closely for my entire life. Dozier is currently trying to pull every single pitch, and this needs to be corrected. However, the Twins' leash is longer than that of any team. That being the case, Dozier is also not corrected. Not long ago, Dozier did not run out a chopper back at the pitcher. The pitcher overthrew the 1B, forcing him to come way off of the bag in order to make the catch. By the time Dozier finally decided to run, the 1B had recovered, and was able to get the out by a step. This cost us a run in a close game. Also recently, Dozier caught a pop-up in short RF, then threw around-the-horn to Nunez, who was not even looking. We were down by several runs, and Dozier was standing there - laughing it up on the field, looking like a complete fool. At any level I played (Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, American Legion, college), this would have been grounds to pull the player off of the field - on the spot. 

 

I feel that accountability is an issue with this team, and I'm sorry if you don't like it, but it is my opinion that everything stems from Mauer. You cannot hold the entire squad accountable, yet give Mauer a pass. As it stands now, though Dozier did ride the pine a few games, he has been largely not held accountable. This team has created a culture of not having accountability. If Joe is not required to make adjustments, why should anyone else?

[Mike Sixel]

Talk about a straw man. People rip Mauer all the time here, and online, and in the stadium and on the radio.

 

I'm not sure what the team can do at this point. Personally, I'd try to buy him off. Failing that, I'd consider just waiving him, and putting Park at 1B.

 

But, no one here is saying you can't rip him. People are questioning what the money has to do with ripping him though. He's bad compared to other 1B, not matter what he's being paid. I don't think the money would be allocated for another star, so I don't think his money matters at all to their success (other than making it impossible to trade him, but then his no trade status does that also).

[Wizard11]

Dr. N, I agree with your well considered observations on Joe Mauer. I think 100% of posters on this thread would agree that Mauer's performance the past 3 years has been a disappointment. There does not seem to be any disagreement on that. Rather I think what sounds like a defense of Mauer is in fact the varying degrees of fatigue many have with having the same conversation for 3 years. It would be great if the media would take up this conversation and raise the profile of the issues.

[DrNeau]

Mauer goes yard in his first AB tonight. LOVE IT. Swung at the first pitch. Nice to see him pull the trigger for once. Can he turn it around?

[DrNeau]

Yes, the topic... which was about panicking, due to how poorly Mauer has been playing this season. Sure-fire way to distract those from the topic is to point out ad-hominem minutiae. 

[Minniman]

 

No the issue is that when Mauer and the Twins agreed to the contract it was a fair contract, especially for a home-grown MVP. Then he played very well for another few years, and basically was "worth" the $20M annual salary. Then he got a brain injury. 

 

Try explaining this to anyone in Saint Paul... 

 

If this is so, Mauer should retire, and both he and the Twins should collect on their injury insurance policies.

 

Really, ... if this is caused by brain trauma, why is Joe still playing at all?

 

[Ncgo4]

Let's see:

 

Dozier        .200

Plouffe       .252

Arcia          .233

Escobar     .266

Santana     .255

Park           .224

Sano          .221

 

Mauer        .276

 

Yeah, Mauer's our biggest problem.

[twinssporto]

 

To me, and this is not a recent observation, he has such little actual impact on games it's like he's almost not there.

The numbers themselves aren't the whole story. Not what any of us were hoping for, but hardly terrible. They don't actually capture his lack of impact though. Few extra base hits, and the doubles he gets tend to be soft and to left, limiting the bases runners can advance. Same for his singles, usually fielded on one or two hops by the left fieder moving towards the infield. Walks that up the OBP, but move any runners only one base. He refuses to change his approach, letting hittable fastballs sail by, even with a RH pitcher and a RH hitter up next, so you end up with a worse matchup, and often no runs result.

Add it all up, and his OPS has less impact than similar OPS's from "worse" hitters.

This is spot on.  I never really put words to it but Chief is right.  Mauer is not an impact player.  Most of us can think of various big name players through the years (with the Twins or other clubs) that were "clutch" type guys.  Mauer just isn't that type of player.

[The Wise One]

 

This is spot on.  I never really put words to it but Chief is right.  Mauer is not an impact player.  Most of us can think of various big name players through the years (with the Twins or other clubs) that were "clutch" type guys.  Mauer just isn't that type of player.

Statistically or eye test?  Bill James' "Runs Created" stats has him in tied for 60th place. Through the years in relation to current players, again, is about that spot. Not elite, but hardly non impact

[Steve J]

3 home runs in 3 games.....

[TheLeviathan]

3 home runs in 3 games.....

You're in your bunker too, huh?

[akmanak]

Let's see:

 

Dozier .200

Plouffe .252

Arcia .233

Escobar .266

Santana .255

Park .224

Sano .221

 

Mauer .276

 

Yeah, Mauer's our biggest problem.

[Bark's Lounge]

I want to see how this season plays out for Mauer. He started out hot, slumped, and now is picking it up again. From an eye test perspective, it seems like he is much better (contact, hard hit balls). I want to let the tape role for the rest of season before I make some kind of judgement.

[John Bonnes]

He's looking a lot more like the old Mauer again. Just talked about this on GATG:

 

• On 5/1, he was hitting .337 (with a 920 OPS) and if felt like maybe the old Mauer was back.
• For the next two weeks, he went into a major slump, and this thread started. From 5/2 through 5/16 he was just bad, hitting .143 with a 377 OPS.
• But he's been back for the last 10 games. In that stretch, he's hit .325 for a 1025 OPS AND 4 home runs. And that doesn't include today's game.

[DaveW]

I don't think he will ever be "peak" Mauer that wins Batting titles and MVPs again. But I do think he is significantly better than his last two o seasons and will post a .820-.850 OPS this season and the next 2-3, which makes him an asset. .310-.325 BA for the batting average crowd. Hopefully that gives him enough of a push to make him a first ballot hall of gamer.

[AlwaysinModeration]

I actually don't think he slumped too badly over those two weeks. He hit several line-drives and balls to the LF corner that were just right at people or were just caught.

 

I will say that Smalley was right that yesterday he went up trying to pull the ball in the AB after his homer. Came up with two men on (when does that happen?) and swung and missed three times, with the first two up and out of the zone.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I actually don't think he slumped too badly over those two weeks. He hit several line-drives and balls to the LF corner that were just right at people or were just caught.

It wasn't just a low average slump, his K and BB rates were terrible.

[SwainZag]

And just like that he is sitting 3rd in the AL in WAR for 1B and probably staring at his 7th AS appearance if he keeps it up for a few weeks.

[jimmer]

 

And just like that he is sitting 3rd in the AL in WAR for 1B and probably staring at his 7th AS appearance if he keeps it up for a few weeks.

That's impossible! He's pedestrian as a 1B, one of our problems, not a solution.  Should be batting 7th... :-)

[twinsnorth49]

Funny, I wasn't panicked at all. 

[ashbury]

 

• For the next two weeks, he went into a major slump, and this thread started. From 5/2 through 5/16 he was just bad, hitting .143 with a 377 OPS.

 

I'll cherry-pick just slightly differently, from May 2 to 22, and in those 17 games his BABIP was a ghastly .190. For the season as a whole it's .321. Explanations involving defensive shifts and so forth probably don't account for this much of a difference; sometimes the hits just don't fall in.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I'll cherry-pick just slightly differently, from May 2 to 22, and in those 17 games his BABIP was a ghastly .190. For the season as a whole it's .321. Explanations involving defensive shifts and so forth probably don't account for this much of a difference; sometimes the hits just don't fall in.

True, but during that same stretch, he had 18 Ks and only 7 BB and 1 XBH in 68 PA. There was quite a bit more than bad luck going on there.

[D. Hocking]

Just curious - how much of that bad period coincides with his time leading off?   I know in the long run that should not affect a hitter of his skill and experience - but it such a mental game.  I know I have had difficulties keeping my mental focus just being a fan this year.

 

I do think of all the big sports, baseball does have the biggest element of luck, at least for smaller sample sizes.  You can have a week or even two where the bounce of the ball or a hard hit missing or not missing a fielder can really elevate or lower the stats for that time.  I suppose we really won't know for sure for a few more months of what the real Mauer is now.  

[Kwak]

 

Mauer bashing is really the most boring thing. I can't watch a game at a St. Paul bar without someone muttering "$23 million" whenever Mauer makes an out. I've stopped trying to argue with any of those lunks.

Stop going to St Paul bars!

[jimbo92107]

It's going to be an interesting season for Joe Mauer. Right from the start I could see that he was recognizing pitches quicker and barreling up the ball much better than last year. That said, he is having the normal ups and downs of an mlb hitter, which differs quite a bit from the amazing consistency he displayed at the peak of his hitting career. It is quite possible that Mauer is still a ways off from full recovery from his concussion symptoms, but clearly he's a lot better today than he was at this time a year ago. 

 

Anybody else notice that Joe Mauer almost never breaks a bat? 

[Mike Frasier Law]

Slumps happen to everyone. Looking at his peripherals, though, it looks like Mauer is way better than we've seen in a long time.

 

His line drive % is at 31.5%. Career at 24.1%. League average is 20.7%.

His soft hit % is 11.2% (in line with his career - league average is 19.1%) but his hard hit is at 37.1% - league average is 30.6%. 

 

So he's hitting the ball harder than he has in years, and he's making good contact by hitting line drives instead of ground balls. We haven't seen this guy since 2009 or 2010.

 

Seems like he's got his eye back too:

He's swinging at 19.5% of pitches out of the zone. He wa at 27.2% last year and 25% in 2014. League average 28.4%

 

When he swings, he hits the ball:

swings in the zone - 91.1% contact. Best mark since 2012. League average is 86%

swings total -  86.3%. Best mark since 2012. League average is 78.3%

 

Oh, and don't forget. He's walking 14.5% of the time. He's never done that before. He's striking out 15.9% of the time, which is his lowest mark since 2012.

 

I'm just saying, he looks like a 5 WAR player again. Let's enjoy it.