Is this Joe Mauers best offensive year???

[greengoblinrulz]

Any talk in any thread about Mauer, I absolutely discount his 2009 season as a fluke & that continues in this one.

His low RBI total isnt consuming my arguement as a player cannot control that stat (as important as it is ). His RISP line of .300/.462/.350 in only 40ABs vs his career .341/.460/.493 is down & disappointing a bit.

His ISO is however a full season career best (of course discount 09) .165 and his 40runs, 37walks, 21 doubles, 7HR & 28 XBH are all on pace for career highs also(all but HRs true career bests).

Some are harping on his K total of 55 (already 4th highest of his 9 yrs), but that also doesnt bother me if the tradeoff is added power.

[Mike Sixel]

I don't know, but so far, he's once again one of the best hitters on the planet.

[Boone]

Mauer has been extremely productive this season. His OPS of .904 is the 3rd highest of his career and is the 5th highest in all of baseball. He isn't getting nearly enough credit for his production.

More importantly, I believe that Mauer's success this year is sustainable. His line drive rate of 28.6% is easily a career high and his GB/FB rate of 1.73 has returned to the levels it was from 2007-2009. And although Mauer has struck out more than ever before, he has eliminated this problem with 11 BB to 6 K in 55 ABs in June while posting a .915 OPS and a .182 ISO. Maybe Mauer won't have to trade strikeouts for power after all...

This isn't really the point of the thread, but I hope that the Twins reduce Mauer's time at catcher significantly after the trade deadline. No need to accumulate more wear and tear on his knees during meaningless games.

[Mike Sixel]

Agree with boone....give Mauer more time at 1B.....and DH.....though don't stop him from being a catcher....

[ThePuck]

5th highest in AL, not all of MLB (12th in MLB) and 2009 was his best offensive year. This could end up being his 2nd best though after a very good year last year.

[greengoblinrulz]

My arguement will always be that moving Mauer to 1B or DH completely nullifies his hitting for his position.

As a first baseman, he is VASTLY underproductive. Not even in a group with a Lyle Overbay type, much less a Mark Grace type. 1B is NOT a position for a high batting average with moderate power.....EVER.

Mauer only becomes an above average player @ C.

[ThePuck]

Only one AL 1B has a better OPS than Mauer right now and only three MLB 1Bs have a better OPS right now.

 

But he's not a HR hitter.

[Mike Sixel]

My arguement will always be that moving Mauer to 1B or DH completely nullifies his hitting for his position.

As a first baseman, he is VASTLY underproductive. Not even in a group with a Lyle Overbay type, much less a Mark Grace type. 1B is NOT a position for a high batting average with moderate power.....EVER.

Mauer only becomes an above average player @ C.

 

disagree, his OBP is so good, and his BA is so good, that lower power is offset.....

[greengoblinrulz]

on my Mauer 1B arguement....this is goin on Mauer's career year this season. His career averages show he would be a below average offensive 1B for run production

[Mike Sixel]

on my Mauer 1B arguement....this is goin on Mauer's career year this season. His career averages show he would be a below average offensive 1B for run production

 

 

fair enough.....I still prefer Plouffe at 1B the majority of the time, until/less there is a better option. And, 1B might become Mauer's best position, as his knees get older, and he still might be better than their other options.

[JB_Iowa]

I'm very pleased with Mauer's performance this year. He's on track to catch about 105-110 games (I'd like it to be about 115 but I'll take this). His power is up. If my math is correct, he is on track for the most total bases of his career. And, in what delights me the most, he isn't killing rallies by GIDP (I was about to pull out my hair last year).

 

If he can maintain about 90% of this year's performance over the next 3-4 years, I would be ecstatic. (And while I admire his skills, I'm not a big Mauer fan).

[Boone]

My arguement will always be that moving Mauer to 1B or DH completely nullifies his hitting for his position.

As a first baseman, he is VASTLY underproductive. Not even in a group with a Lyle Overbay type, much less a Mark Grace type. 1B is NOT a position for a high batting average with moderate power.....EVER.

Mauer only becomes an above average player @ C.

 

The fact that Mauer doesn't hit HRs shouldn't stop you from playing him at 1B. It is a fact that OPS has a higher correlation to run production than any other stat. Therefore, you should look for a high OPS, not just power, at 1B and Mauer's OPS this season would be one of the highest for first basemen.

 

Anyways, my point was that the Twins should decrease his time at 1B this year because we have nothing to play for. Doing so will allow him to catch more and be more productive as a catcher when we are legitimate contenders.

[JB_Iowa]

 

Anyways, my point was that the Twins should decrease his time at 1B this year because we have nothing to play for. Doing so will allow him to catch more and be more productive as a catcher when we are legitimate contenders.

 

According to Baseball Reference, he has caught 42, DH'd 17 and played 4 at 1B. It would be hard to reduce it much more.

[Winston Smith]

I know some even a lot of people don't like the RBI stat. It's said you can't control the # of runners on base and other reasons. However, if you look at percentage of runners on base actually driven in it does give you a good or not idea (I'm not saying this is a perfect indicator) of production. Mauer is driving in 10% of all runners on base (14 out of 142). Floriman 15.8% (18 out of 114) and Morneau 17.7% (36 out of 203). Of course if you want real production Cabrera is driving in 23% (52 out of 225) of all runners on. These #'s don't include last night.

[jokin]

I know some even a lot of people don't like the RBI stat. It's said you can't control the # of runners on base and other reasons. However, if you look at percentage of runners on base actually driven in it does give you a good or not idea (I'm not saying this is a perfect indicator) of production. Mauer is driving in 10% of all runners on base (14 out of 142). Floriman 15.8% (18 out of 114) and Morneau 17.7% (36 out of 203). Of course if you want real production Cabrera is driving in 23% (52 out of 225) of all runners on. These #'s don't include last night.

 

Lowly Aaron Hicks is actually more productive at Runs w/MOB @ 13.3% (13 out of 98).

[ThePuck]

I know some even a lot of people don't like the RBI stat. It's said you can't control the # of runners on base and other reasons. However, if you look at percentage of runners on base actually driven in it does give you a good or not idea (I'm not saying this is a perfect indicator) of production. Mauer is driving in 10% of all runners on base (14 out of 142). Floriman 15.8% (18 out of 114) and Morneau 17.7% (36 out of 203). Of course if you want real production Cabrera is driving in 23% (52 out of 225) of all runners on. These #'s don't include last night.

 

Part of that comes from batting 2nd and all the times the leadoff guy in the game gets on base and is only on 1B, instead of in scoring position. That percentage was much better last year.

[greengoblinrulz]

Part of that comes from batting 2nd and all the times the leadoff guy in the game gets on base and is only on 1B, instead of in scoring position. That percentage was much better last year.

That is only the first AB of the guy. Position in a lineup shouldnt matter as if Mauer hit with more power (even doubles power), that one AB would score someone from first. His .350slgg this with RISP doesnt do it but his career .496slgg RISP does.

[ThePuck]

That is only the first AB of the guy. Position in a lineup shouldnt matter as if Mauer hit with more power (even doubles power), that one AB would score someone from first. His .350slgg this with RISP doesnt do it but his career .496slgg RISP does.

 

The first AB is 20-25% of all of his ABs, a significant amount.

 

Also doubles don't always score someone from 1st. Revere, a very fast player, didn't score from 1st on a double to the wall one time even though there were two outs, he was leading off first and, since there were two outs, he could take off at the crack of the bat.

 

Position in the lineup does matter. More runners in scoring position, more RBIs. He's not in a RBI spot in the lineup. He was moved from that, even though he has always excelled with RISP.

[Boone]

I know some even a lot of people don't like the RBI stat. It's said you can't control the # of runners on base and other reasons. However, if you look at percentage of runners on base actually driven in it does give you a good or not idea (I'm not saying this is a perfect indicator) of production. Mauer is driving in 10% of all runners on base (14 out of 142). Floriman 15.8% (18 out of 114) and Morneau 17.7% (36 out of 203). Of course if you want real production Cabrera is driving in 23% (52 out of 225) of all runners on. These #'s don't include last night.

 

This is a really poor way to analyzing run production because it fails to consider which base a player is on or how fast they are. Furthermore, this is just a really small sample size.

 

A better way to evaluate this is to look at triple slash lines with runners on base and RISP, because it is eliminates other variables that can skew the results. For Mauer's career he is hitting .341/.460/.493/.953 with RISP compared to .308/.375/.463/.838 with no RISP. That's run production right there. When you consider that slugging percentage isn't as important with RISP (a single will score the runner from 3rd and there's a good chance it will score the runner from 2nd) this is even more impressive. Furthermore, Mauer is hitting .343/.441/.476/.917 with runner's on base. Again, that's going to produce a lot of runs.

 

And just in case anyone's questioning his "clutch gene," his OPS is 1.010 with RISP and 2 outs.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

Why move Mauer away from catcher when he's been elite there defensively and healthy for a long time? My suggestion is that the Twins keep managing him as is.

[Winston Smith]

Yes we all know Joe is the greatest hitter of all time but the thread was is this his best year. He is not driving runners in at even a medicocre rate. Last year he was very good at 18% and like I said it isn't any more perfect a stat than yours. And he actually has the same % of runners on 1st base as Morneau but a lot less driven in. So IMO this is not close to his best year.

[ThePuck]

Yes we all know Joe is the greatest hitter of all time but the thread was is this his best year. He is not driving runners in at even a medicocre rate. Last year he was very good at 18% and like I said it isn't any more perfect a stat than yours. And he actually has the same % of runners on 1st base as Morneau but a lot less driven in. So IMO this is not close to his best year.

 

Mauer is hitting better and slugging better than Morneau with men on 1B in 53 ABs. Morneau has 10 more ABs with runners on 1st with one more RBI. That's just with runners only on 1st. When it comes to all situations where a runner is on 1B, Morneau has 23 more ABs and 21 more RBI.

[launchingthrees]

on my Mauer 1B arguement....this is goin on Mauer's career year this season. His career averages show he would be a below average offensive 1B for run production

 

His career OPS would put him at 5-6th this year for 1st basemen. His OPS this year would put him at 3rd. His career WOBA would put him at 5th in MLB.

 

Which metric could you possibly be using to put him below average offensively at 1st?

[notoriousgod71]

This is a really poor way to analyzing run production because it fails to consider which base a player is on or how fast they are. Furthermore, this is just a really small sample size.

 

A better way to evaluate this is to look at triple slash lines with runners on base and RISP, because it is eliminates other variables that can skew the results. For Mauer's career he is hitting .341/.460/.493/.953 with RISP compared to .308/.375/.463/.838 with no RISP. That's run production right there. When you consider that slugging percentage isn't as important with RISP (a single will score the runner from 3rd and there's a good chance it will score the runner from 2nd) this is even more impressive. Furthermore, Mauer is hitting .343/.441/.476/.917 with runner's on base. Again, that's going to produce a lot of runs.

 

And just in case anyone's questioning his "clutch gene," his OPS is 1.010 with RISP and 2 outs.

 

If you hit homeruns it doesn't matter what base people are at or how slow they are.

[Kobs]

My arguement will always be that moving Mauer to 1B or DH completely nullifies his hitting for his position.

As a first baseman, he is VASTLY underproductive. Not even in a group with a Lyle Overbay type, much less a Mark Grace type. 1B is NOT a position for a high batting average with moderate power.....EVER.

Mauer only becomes an above average player @ C.

 

Your argument is wrong and ridiculous (and somewhat incoherent).

[Oxtung]

The fact that Mauer doesn't hit HRs shouldn't stop you from playing him at 1B. It is a fact that OPS has a higher correlation to run production than any other stat. Therefore, you should look for a high OPS, not just power, at 1B and Mauer's OPS this season would be one of the highest for first basemen.

 

Anyways, my point was that the Twins should decrease his time at 1B this year because we have nothing to play for. Doing so will allow him to catch more and be more productive as a catcher when we are legitimate contenders.

 

Have you ever seen a correlation study that actually links OPS to individual performance? I've only ever seen OPS linked to team runs. While that might suggest OPS is important for individual hitters it by no means proves it is. If you have seen a correlation study linking OPS to individual run creation to team success I would love to see it!

[Kobs]

Have you ever seen a correlation study that actually links OPS to individual performance? I've only ever seen OPS linked to team runs. While that might suggest OPS is important for individual hitters it by no means proves it is. If you have seen a correlation study linking OPS to individual run creation to team success I would love to see it!

 

If there were a credible measure of "individual run creation," why would we need OPS?

[Oxtung]

Mauer has been extremely productive this season. His OPS of .904 is the 3rd highest of his career and is the 5th highest in all of baseball. He isn't getting nearly enough credit for his production.

More importantly, I believe that Mauer's success this year is sustainable. His line drive rate of 28.6% is easily a career high and his GB/FB rate of 1.73 has returned to the levels it was from 2007-2009. And although Mauer has struck out more than ever before, he has eliminated this problem with 11 BB to 6 K in 55 ABs in June while posting a .915 OPS and a .182 ISO. Maybe Mauer won't have to trade strikeouts for power after all...

This isn't really the point of the thread, but I hope that the Twins reduce Mauer's time at catcher significantly after the trade deadline. No need to accumulate more wear and tear on his knees during meaningless games.

 

I don't believe his stats this year are sustainable. He has a .396 babip which is way above his career average of .348 and is even well above his career high of .378 (2009). When that starts to drop both his slugging and batting average will fall with it. How much they will fall is the real question....

[greengoblinrulz]

I said earlier IF Joe hits like this year, his bat plays at 1B. In the past, it doesnt.

No arguement that he's not an HR hitter, but he's had only 1 year w/over 36 doubles & 2 over 31. Before this year, he wasnt an extra base hitter. This year he is. You cannot have a fulltime singles hitting 1B, even with the great OBP.

The other part is whomever is catching is essentially replacing the 1B. Ryan Doumits numbers wouldnt play at 1B either. Now you've taken a plus offensive position @ C (only one the club has) & eliminated it.

[Kobs]

I said earlier IF Joe hits like this year, his bat plays at 1B. In the past, it doesnt.

No arguement that he's not an HR hitter, but he's had only 1 year w/over 36 doubles & 2 over 31. Before this year, he wasnt an extra base hitter. This year he is. You cannot have a fulltime singles hitting 1B, even with the great OBP.

The other part is whomever is catching is essentially replacing the 1B. Ryan Doumits numbers wouldnt play at 1B either. Now you've taken a plus offensive position @ C (only one the club has) & eliminated it.

 

You need to take a look at who actually plays major league baseball. There are not 29 teams with Joey Votto equivalents.