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I must say....I am quite concerned about Mauer's power. Espicially when you hit the pitcher in the junk...he just smiles andstrikes out the next batter.

I am not worried, Joe will turn in his usual hitting year and should play in many more games.

In regards to the comparison to 2013 I would point out the following:

 

- In 2013 Joe was catching so a .743 OPS was still good, even top 10.

- In 2014 Joe is playing first so an even lower OPS of .676 is awful, 25th out of 28.

 

Joe absolutely deserves a ton of time to turn this around because he has proven that he is a better player than this but I am mildly concerned by the poor start and this out of character K%.

He just needs to break out his good old "Quick Swing" for a few weeks to get the mojo back, then he'll be fine...

 

I find the K-rate to be extremely disconcerting, however.

Great write-up, Parker.

Given where I am, I've only been able to actually watch a couple of games.

What I've seen so far jibes with what you describe (thanks for the heat maps, btw.)

 

Pure speculation: could it be that he's trying to change his approach at the plate to become more of a classic 1B power hitter? Swing rate might offer a clue there.

If change in approach is not the answer, then maybe injury, or- gasp- age might be factoring in...?

Is this where we direct all of our BOO MAUER comments?

 

Kidding. Parker, once again great work looking beyond just the numbers and finding something deeper.

 

BOO MAUER!

 

Mauer is going to Mauer. Even with an increase in his K rate, he's still going to be a valuable member of this team. He's going to lose some "WAR value" from moving out behind the plate, but him being on base for the heart of the lineup to bring home is what he does. Joe Mauer singles and doubles, I'll take them all day, everyday.

Is this where we direct all of our BOO MAUER comments?

 

Kidding. Parker, once again great work looking beyond just the numbers and finding something deeper.

 

BOO MAUER!

 

Mauer is going to Mauer. Even with an increase in his K rate, he's still going to be a valuable member of this team. He's going to lose some "WAR value" from moving out behind the plate, but him being on base for the heart of the lineup to bring home is what he does. Joe Mauer singles and doubles, I'll take them all day, everyday.

 

 

2-3 days after all this something is wrong talk, his OBP is up to .365 and climbing.

2-3 days after all this something is wrong talk, his OBP is up to .365 and climbing.

 

Sure, but his slugging is down to .317 and sinking fast.

 

Look, no is questioning Mauer's ability to manage the strike zone and avoid outs (or they shouldn't be, at least) -- it's the ball off of his bat that is raising questions and eyebrows.

FWIW, Mauer was NOT mentioned in a Fangraphs post today about hitters to stary worrying about:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/some-hitters-to-start-worrying-about/

In regards to the comparison to 2013 I would point out the following:

 

- In 2013 Joe was catching so a .743 OPS was still good, even top 10.

- In 2014 Joe is playing first so an even lower OPS of .676 is awful, 25th out of 28.

 

Joe absolutely deserves a ton of time to turn this around because he has proven that he is a better player than this but I am mildly concerned by the poor start and this out of character K%.

 

Agree...

 

And just some food for thought, for those jumping on Mauer...Miguel Cabrera is almost identical to Mauer.

 

Cabrera is #21, Mauer is #22.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=1b&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=c,4,6,11,12,13,21,-1,34,35,40,41,-1,23,37,38,50,61,-1,111,-1,203,199,58,39&season=2014&month=0&season1=2014&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=22,d