Mauer put on 7-Day Concussion Disabled List

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins wisely put Joe Mauer on the 7 Day Concussion Disabled List. Hopefully it's not serious and more just the symptoms and he's back in 7 days. Either way, have to protect people's futures.

 

Chris Colabello has been recalled.

[Ultima Ratio]

Is this related to the foul ball he took off the head/helmet catching last night, I believe?

[Winston Smith]

No reason for him to catch another inning this year.

[Marta Shearing]

No reason for him to catch another inning this year.

No reason to catch another inning ever. He should be the full time DH from here on out. Without the wear and tear he'd probably put up 2009 numbers again.

[Jdosen]

No reason to catch another inning ever. He should be the full time DH from here on out. Without the wear and tear he'd probably put up 2009 numbers again.

That I doubt, and that is a sentiment I disagree with because a lot of his value is found in being such a good defensive catcher while putting up the numbers he does. I do think he should be waned off catching as we go down the stretch each season going forward unless we are in a pennant race.

 

That is, if this doesn't (God forbid) become a Morneau situation. As I read on twitter from one of the Twins bloggers (I forget which one), it's breath-holding time.

[Shane Wahl]

I would be content with Mauer catching 2012's number of games for the next two seasons.

[CGNikolic]

Is it bilateral? That is the question here....

 

 

Totally just kidding of course; I wish Mauer a full recovery and think he will be fine.. But the Twins should definitely be cautious and I'd be lying if I said I was not a little worried.

[Beezer07]

No reason to catch another inning ever. He should be the full time DH from here on out. Without the wear and tear he'd probably put up 2009 numbers again.

 

A full time DH that puts up his 2009 numbers is worth nowhere near what a 2012 version of Mauer that catches 2/3 of the games is worth.

[Alex]

It's true that Mauer is most valuable catching. However there's no value in putting wear and tear on him behind the plate in non-competitive seasons.

[CwK]

No reason for him to catch another inning this year.

 

This times infinity.

[Guest USAFChief]

I would be content with Mauer catching 2012's number of games for the next two seasons.

Mauer caught 74 games in 2012. If you're ok with that then no complaining about 3 catchers is allowed.

[jay]

Mauer caught 74 games in 2012. If you're ok with that then no complaining about 3 catchers is allowed.

 

Because the other catcher can't catch 88 games?

 

I'd prefer closer to 100 for Mauer behind the plate, but I still don't think 74 justifies a third catcher.

[Mike Sixel]

so the plan is to run with Doumit? Does this team have a strategy for being better next year? There is no one in the minors to bring up to catch? I don't get it.

[Winston Smith]

so the plan is to run with Doumit? Does this team have a strategy for being better next year? There is no one in the minors to bring up to catch? I don't get it.

Terry has a plan!

[ericchri]

I get the feeling this is going to start being somewhat common in baseball going forward. Seems like there have been a bunch of catchers going on it lately, which makes sense as a season's worth of balls to the mask start adding up. Supposedly lots of little hits piled on top of each other can be just as bad as one big hit, so now that they're so much more aware of what constitutes a concussion I'll be surprised if it isn't a fairly common occurrence later in the season. I've never liked this propensity to 3 catchers Gardy seems to have (his reasons didn't seem to be concussion related, more security blanket), but taking concussion possibilities into account I wonder if it might start becoming more prevalent and maybe even prudent.

[Mike Sixel]

A team that desperately needs a high draft pick, that has no future this year or next, that team should be promoting a young player that is either part of the future potentially, or promote someone from lower in the minors that isn't great, but can catch. Doumit serves no purpose here at all.

[Mike Sixel]

Or, you can use AAA to stash the 3rd catcher, and not worry about individual games.....it is silly to worry about at the MLB level.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Seems to me like this would be a good time for a cup of coffee for Pinto. Is he not on the 40 man? Just let the kid know he's up for a week's worth of games and headed back to Rochester with an item or two to work on.

[Seth Stohs]

I admit, I like the idea of Mauer catching about 75 games, Pinto catching about 65 games, and Herrmann catching about 25 games and being the 3rd catcher. Why am I OK with that? Because Mauer will still be able to play 150+ games... Pinto can DH when he's not catching, and Herrmann serves as the #3 catcher, the backup catcher, a backup outfielder, a guy who can play in the corner infield spots if needed. That's a pretty valuable role player if he can provide depth at all those positions and you can have two quality catchers that don't have to just catch.

[Winston Smith]

A team that desperately needs a high draft pick, that has no future this year or next, that team should be promoting a young player that is either part of the future potentially, or promote someone from lower in the minors that isn't great, but can catch. Doumit serves no purpose here at all.

 

He does a great Grizzly Adams impersonation!

[ericchri]

and Herrmann serves as the #3 catcher, the backup catcher, a backup outfielder, a guy who can play in the corner infield spots if needed. That's a pretty valuable role player if he can provide depth at all those positions and you can have two quality catchers that don't have to just catch.

 

This had caught my attention but I never got back to it. You mention Herrmann playing corner infield. Is there any reason to think he can? I glanced at his minor league fielding notes and he had no games at 1st, and only 1 game at 3rd with no fielding chances (which makes me suspect it was probably for something like a one-inning fill-in due to injury or the like). Cause if he could play corner outfield, corner infield, and catcher at least passably with something approaching a league-average stick, that'd be a pretty valuable player to have.

 

As a followup to my own post previous, I wasn't really advocating anything per se, though it may have appeared that way. I was really more musing on what the long-term (10'ish years down the line) ramifications of all these catchers hitting the concussion DL might be. As a sort of progressing thought, what if baseball as a whole decides they don't want to risk getting sued by their players like the NFL is. And that leads to them increasing the 7-day concussion DL to 10-days. And encouraging trainers/doctors to be aggressive in diagnosing a concussion. Leading to a couple trips a year on the DL per catcher. Leading to managers and GM's asking if there isn't some better way to handle it than shuttling some guy up and down from AAA constantly all year long. Eventually leading to expanding the 25-man roster to 26 or 27 players or the like so they can more readily have a 3rd catcher on the roster without it adversely affecting all the other roster spots they want to fill.

 

I'm not saying I think that will happen or that I want it to happen. I do wonder if it might happen, though.