Joe Mauer won Player of the Month honors for his ridiculous May performance, hitting .414 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs in 28 games after spending all of April on the disabled list with a back injury. And he's actually raised his batting average so far in June.
Mauer went 4-for-4 last night, making him 26-for-57 (.456) this month while raising his overall average to .429. Missing the first month of the season leaves him 20 plate appearances short of qualifying for the batting title, but Mauer has been so amazing that even going 0-for-20 in those imaginary trips to the plate would leave him with an MLB-leading .381 mark.
Three years ago Mauer became the first catcher in AL history to win the batting title and the first catcher in MLB history to lead all of baseball in batting average. Then last year Mauer became the first catcher in AL history to win two batting titles. And this year he looks poised to become the first catcher, in either league, to win three batting titles.
Or maybe even make a run at .400. Of course, all you need to know about how hard it is to hit .400 for an entire season is that Mauer has batted .429 through mid-June and, if he continues to walk at the same rate, would need to hit .382 over the remainder of the season to get there with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.
He ultimately needs at least 317 more trips to the plate to qualify for the batting title and the list of players who've hit .380 or higher during a season in which they had 300 or more plate appearances over the past 50 years looks like this: Tony Gwynn, George Brett, Rod Carew. Of course, the list of highest career batting averages over the past 50 years also looks like this:
AVG Tony Gwynn .338 Albert Pujols .334 Ichiro Suzuki .334 Roberto Clemente .329 Wade Boggs .328 Todd Helton .328 Rod Carew .328 JOE MAUER .325 Vladimir Guerrero .322 Kirby Puckett .318
With a .429 average in mid-June and a .325 career mark to go along with the lack of April plate appearances, Mauer is as well-positioned to make a serious run at hitting .400 as someone can be 66 games into the season. And yet as Brett, Carew, Gwynn, Todd Helton, John Olerud, Chipper Jones, Nomar Garciaparra, Larry Walker, and basically everyone since Ted Williams in 1941 has learned he still has very little chance of actually getting there.
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But, if Mauer does hit .400, it will turn Ted's (frozen) dead head. Have you checked the home/road split? It is .522/.360 .
But, if Mauer does hit .400, it will turn Ted's (frozen) dead head. Have you checked the home/road split? It is .522/.360 .
I'm not sure I really understand this comment. The Metrodome is a pitcher-friendly ballpark at this point and Mauer has hit .326 at home compared to .325 on the road during his career. Williams benefited far more from Fenway Park than Mauer ever will from the Metrodome.
How did Ted Williams benefit more from Fenway Park when he was a dead pull hitter? That makes no sense.
If he didn't benefit from Fenway, how did he hit .355 at home and .320 on the road during his career? That makes no sense either :)
Ted Williams is obviously one of the best hitters ever, but even the best can benefit from their playing conditions. He may have been a dead pull hitter (I can't seem to find a spray chart or anything), but he certainly hit some balls the other way and off or over the wall.
It's not necessarily the park; it's being "at home".
All very good, but here's my question, is Mauer a first round pick in fantasy next season?
Even if he hits .400 this season, it doesn't really change what we already knew about Mauer. What raises his stock is the power he showed last month and a little bit this month.
FWIW, I think that will stick around and that his stock will be on the rise. Whether it takes him all the way up to the first round is still unclear.
Who really cares until August?
I care because I've fielded some trade offers for him and I'll use the feedback when evaluating those offers. Basically, I'm wondering if he's just having a really nice run but will come back down to earth eventually, or is this higher level of production here to stay?
No I mean who really cares about baseball in general until August? Hockey just ended which was great as always, and is actually a real sport. If they played 6 innings like Little League it might pique my interest.
Why do visit this blog, then?
Me try increase hockey fan
he doesn't have to hit .400 to be a 1st round choice next year. just continue with the .325 avg and the new found POWER. If he hits 30 plus hrs and hits .325 AND he's a CATCHER then Damn right he's a 1st rounder.
How many players have hit .380+ for a 300 at bat stretch, but weren't able to sustain it for a full season?
Ted Williams was not an all fields hitter - so Fenway did not help him in anything other than there being alot of space in the outfield. Rightfield and Centerfield are extremely deep and spacious areas which are not hitter friendly so much as pitcher friendly - like the Metrodome. So to your point about the Metrodome being a pitcher's park - I might agree with that - but the spaciousness of the park actually adds to both hitters having more places to put basehits - since this discussion is not around Homeruns - I am correct i nthat thinking right? If we were talking about homeruns then I might say the arguement is a bit different.
To chime in on if Mauer is a first rounder next year - if he stays healthy and hits .300 with 300 hrs and say 90RBIs - I would say it is a no brainer at Catcher - just look at Piazza all those years...always drafted between 8-10 in most leagues.
300 HRs might be a bit of a stretch even for Joe Mauer. :)
It is way to early to be making predictions for 2010, but based on his power breakout, I think that Mauer can be projected to hit between .300 and .340 with 20 to 30 HR and 85 to 105 RBI (and maybe 5 SBs). On the low end, he is a no-brainer 2nd round pick, and on the high end he is easily a 1st rounder. I think that beyond Pujols, ARod, H. Ramirez, Reyes, Wright, Longoria, Utley, and Crawford (that is right... I said it), Mauer has to be right there with them.
(I left Kinsler off because of the Batting Average)
Big Mauer fan, but hitting 400 as a Catcher, just will not happen. As to Ted Williams being benefitted by Fenway....if you saw him play you would realize what a dumb comment that was.
As to Ted Williams being benefitted by Fenway....if you saw him play you would realize what a dumb comment that was.
Home/road splits for the beginning of Williams' career aren't readily available, but from 1954-1960 he hit .355 at home compared to .320 on the road. Seems like maybe it wasn't such "a dumb comment."
And just think, people and so called experts were ripping on the Twins for taking Mauer over Mark Prior.....
Mauer has amazing ability and who knows how many batting titles he will win when it's all said and done. He's also a very good defensive player. Could go down as one of the legends at this pace.
The reason why Mauer is such a great pick is that very good teams rarely have the opportunity to pick up Catchers through free agency. The Yankees and Red Sox have been forced to stick with old Catchers because of the fear of have to sign Rod Barajas, Benji Molina, or trade for Miguel Montero as their replacements (Posada is still actually a top Catcher but that will soon come to an end).
Looking in the NL, and you have the Mets and Philly's both of who's weakest spot on the team is arguably their catcher. The McCann, Mauer, Martin are elite players are rare, but almost single-handedly make their teams competitive. Look at Cuddyer and Mornuea's numbers since Mauer's DL return. McCann brings that ATL offense from below average to above average. Martin is having a down year, but can you imagine if LA had to survive with Bard, La Duca, or Estrada? They would go from the best offense in the league to something like the Brian Schnieder Mets offense.
A few years ago Mathis, Olivo, Bard, and Paul where considered the up and coming Catchers in the AL. I think Paul is retired, and the other three are probably 3 of the worst hitting regulars (or semi-regulars) in MLB.
Looking around the league, I think that we need to expect Minnisota to be a very good team for a long time (unless the Yankees sign him after next season for $25 per), and I think we might see a resergence in Baltimore around Wieters. Atlanta is primed to stick around as a perennial contender for the NL East (partially due to their young pitching, but McCann also gets a fair amount of credit), and LA will also say good (their budget deserves some of the credit). Three teams to also keep an eye on are Seattle, if Clement ever gets the opportunity to catch at the major league level, Texas with two potentially elite future catchers with Saltalamacchia and Max Ramirez (if he can stay behind the plate), and San Fran with Buster Posey.
PS: The Nationals have to like Flores who is very young and has already held his own at the major league level, but they will probably have a shot at Bryce Harper in next year's draft. It is hard to judge what is real and what isnt, but if the kid is half as good as SI says, he is probably ready to play in the majors. It does remain an open question if the kid would stay at Catcher or move to 1B or OF (as the best hitting Catching prospect often do).
The biggest travesty of the 1994 strike season (for me) was not the absence of a World Series, but instead the denial of Tony Gwynn's chance to hit .400. It'd be completely biased of me to say I think he would have done it because Gwynn is my favorite player. I just wish he would have had the chance to play the final month and a half.
I am a HUGE Twins fan.....have followed many of todays players thru the minors and spring trainings thru today.......and all I know is...Mauer wants to WIN....even at .500 right now , the Twins have a real good shot shot at taking the AL central. He (in true Twins fashion) will not let an individual feat (as great as a .400 avg could be) get in the way of the teams success....
Mauer will have one important element in his favor if he makes a run a .400, similar to what benefited both Brett's and Gwynn's attempts, but worked against Carew: A low number of ABs.
In 1994, Gwynn hit. .394, but "only" played in 110 games with 419 ABs, courtesy of the baseball strike. One-third of the season was wiped out, and it was the last two months, so he never had to play during the grueling dog days of summer, nor did he have to confront the pressure of trying to hit .400. He was a great hitter, but he probably would have finished somewhere in the .360-.370 range if the season played out. Excellent numbers, and in line with what we've seen him do, but if not for the strike, it would have been long-fogotten that he once was hitting in the .390s during that season.
In 1980, George Brett hit .390 and also had the potential benefit in his drive for .400 from a limited number of games and PA's. He appeared in 117 games with 449 ABs, due injuries that wiped out a month during mid-season. Unlike Gwynn, he did have to confront the pressure and media scrutiny of hitting .400 by playing in September, and whether it was pressure or injuries, he hit below .300 for the month, pulling his average down below .400.
Brett's low PAs illustrates why it would be an advantage to a player trying to hit .400 come September. If a player is hitting .380 mid-way through the month, but has nearly 600 ABs, it would be extremely difficult to pull his BA over .400. A player with only 450 ABs would have a better chance with a well-timed hot streak at the end of the year. This would be the Mauer scenario. His PAs will still be low come September, and if he can stay close, he'd have the best shot since George Brett.
Last, Carew's .388 BA over 155 games and 616 PAs is probably the most significant and noteworthy attempt to hit .400, since it's easily the highest BA over some many ABs. Ichiro deserves note, too. While he never came close to challenging .400, his .372 BA in 161 games and incredible 704 ABs is quite an accomplishment.
Pre-2008, the Mauer home/road BA split is .294 home/.332 road.
2008-2009, the Mauer home/road BA split is .392 home/.311 road.
I am not claiming statistical significance, but Mauer's home average over his last 336 ABs is quite impressive and corresponds with his newly found power stroke to left field.