I agree that if someone is on a pace to drive in 100 runs, it's hard to call it a bad year.  But based on what you wrote, do you this 2013 was a bad year for Mauer when he drove in only 47 runs and had a .239/.389/.273 line with RISP?

I think the narrative I was trying to convey a little bit more is that it's easy to associate a certain weight to a certain statistical category. Instead, evaluating things on a more situational basis, production can be relevant to success.

Mauer is often criticized for being something that he's not (and probably something the Metrodome is at fault for allowing him to appear to be), while often failing to be noted for what he is.

Isn't the narrative that Mauer is having an ordinary season thus far given his OPS of .722 and 0.2 WAR, but that a .500 BABIP with runners in scoring position has generated a few more RBI than might otherwise be expected?  Or are you contending that Mauer has some control over the outcomes in those high leverage situations (in which case it would be helpful if he exerted it all the time).

I'd expect his overall line to improve and his line with RISP to normalize over time but I'm struggling to see the "reinventing" here unless I'm missing something - (which is quite possible by the way )

I guess I'm suggesting so many numbers, the narrative of the core probably got lost along the way. Yes Mauer's BABIP numbers are no doubt going to regress towards the mean, and I too believe that his average will even out.

At its core, the "reinventing" is in relation to a thought process. Far too often HRs are pointed at as a deterrent to Joe's succes. Based upon relative numbers and production elsewhere, the suggestion is that statistical analysis has to be viewed as a whole rather than in terms of weighted importance.

I wondered as Dozier was scoring all those runs last year how many times Mauer had moved him along, if not driving him in. Are there advanced metrics for productive outs?

While Dozier did bat ahead of Mauer most of the year, Mauer's 57 RBI in 2014 wasn't a real significant number. However, considering Dozier's OBP...a healthy amount of those RBI were likely Brian

While it is great he is being extra RISPy this year and true that he doesn't HAVE to hit HR to be productive....

it's still very much true that his production is not what we need from him.

While it is great he is being extra RISPy this year and true that he doesn't HAVE to hit HR to be productive....

 

it's still very much true that his production is not what we need from him.

It probably depends on how you define need. A guy batting .284/.341/.381 who's driving in runs, especially in high leverage, is more than an asset to me.

Total eye test analysis but it seems to me he is really hunting to pull the ball when there is no one on, and shortening up when he has a chance to drive someone in. 

Total eye test analysis but it seems to me he is really hunting to pull the ball when there is no one on, and shortening up when he has a chance to drive someone in. 

The fact that his spray chart is almost completely balanced to all fields probably mimics that sentiment. He's always pulled grounders and opposed liners to a certain extent.

Him swinging earlier in counts I think has dictated ball placement as well. It's easier to hop on a first pitch fastball and yank it rather than to have to wait on a two strike pitch.

There is very little evidence that I have seen that clutch performance (specifically performance w/RISP) is a skill.  If it was, people would tend to remain clutch performers over a period of time, that their stats with RISP would be consistently higher than their overall stats year after year.

Instead, we find the opposite.  If you take the top 10% and bottom 10% clutch performers from one year and graph their clutch performance the following year, the two graphs would probably be similar.  The majority in each group would have RISP performance about equal to their overall performance, some would be above, and some would be below.

There is very little evidence that I have seen that clutch performance (specifically performance w/RISP) is a skill.  If it was, people would tend to remain clutch performers over a period of time, that their stats with RISP would be consistently higher than their overall stats year after year.

 

Instead, we find the opposite.  If you take the top 10% and bottom 10% clutch performers from one year and graph their clutch performance the following year, the two graphs would probably be similar.  The majority in each group would have RISP performance about equal to their overall performance, some would be above, and some would be below.

Again, while understood, this is hanging up too much on a singular situation. The point isn't RISP but rather statistical betterment as a whole. Without hitting HR's, Maur is providing value in other areas.

I don't believe that a hitter has a "clutch" ability or that it's a measurable total. As long as he's driving in runners though, the HR can continue to remain null. When that changes, he will need to further pick up other areas to provide value. No one category determines success or failure.

It probably depends on how you define need. A guy batting .284/.341/.381 who's driving in runs, especially in high leverage, is more than an asset to me.

The high leverage component and the men on base component of that are completely independent of him.  We need Mauer himself being more productive.