Joe Mauer is a terrific hitter for the Minnesota Twins, but despite his smooth stroke, he still gets a lot of criticism for his lack of power. Some argue that a team’s best hitter should have a slugging percentage higher than Mauer’s .423 this year. His career numbers align with Wade Boggs. That’s not so bad, is it?
For 2012, Mauer is ninth in the AL in batting average (.307), second in on-base percentage (.411) and sixth in walks (37). It’s not like he’s out there stranding runners left and right. He does lead the AL in double plays grounded into with 14, but that’s really the only negative statistic to see.
During Boggs’ best years, he hit in the .360s with on-base percentages in the .450s. He walked much more than he struck out and even led the league in grounding into double plays.
It’s not like Mauer doesn’t hit well with runners on base
With runners in scoring position, Mauer hits .368 with a .500 on-base percentage. He’s walked 15 times and struck out just eight in 72 plate appearances. He’s only hit one home run, but can’t singles and doubles be strung together as well?
The double plays that he’s hit into have almost exclusively come in the same situation. With a man on first only, he hits just .231 and has grounded into 12 of his 14 double plays.
Couldn’t coach Ron Gardenhire put the runner in motion more often in that situation? Shouldn’t he take some of the criticism in that situation?
Mauer is extremely important but can he really be blamed?
As Mauer goes, so do the Twins. In their wins, he hits a remarkable .418 with a .545 on-base percentage and a .620 slugging percentage. In losses, he hits just .243 with a .309 slugging percentage.
It makes sense that the best player on the team would be so instrumental to his club, but what doesn’t make sense is how the rest of the team seems to go to sleep when Mauer isn’t performing. They deserve and should share the blame.
The only thing that needs changing is the players around him
Denard Span and Ben Revere have done a reasonably good job getting on base in front of Mauer. They have .351 and .349 on-base percentages, respectively. The concern for me comes from the players behind Mauer.
While Trevor Plouffe is crushing the ball right now, he’s still only hitting .240 with a .315 on-base percentage. That’s better than former MVP Justin Morneau, who’s hitting .240 with a .311 on-base percentage.
Baseball is a team game. Yes, Mauer makes a ridiculous amount of money and is expected to produce more than anyone else on the roster. Could you imagine how prolific Mauer would be on a team like the Texas Rangers?
It’s not Mauer’s fault. He’s playing a great brand of baseball and shouldn’t change a thing. Hopefully, management can work hard to develop players to play behind Mauer who can hold up their end of the bargain.
Like this article? Show your support by becoming my fan here on Bleacher Report and follow me on Twitter to be the first to know when my newest articles arrive!
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com