January 25, 201610 yr ...or so writes the Pioneer Press's Charley Walters. According to the columnist, Joe Mauer's work with a strength-flexibility guru Roger Erickson (profiled here, by the way) this offseason has resulted in the first baseman being "much stronger than in past seasons." (What exactly that is measured by is up for debate as Walters fails to mention how much he even benches, bro.) This "best shape of his life" narrative is nothing new for veterans in baseball and certainly isn't new for Mauer either. Heading into 2014 Mauer said he had a "very productive offseason" while working out with Erickson. He hit just .277/.361/.371 with 4 home runs in a year that was marred by a brain injury. Going into last season, Mauer said that he felt he had one of the best offseason of his career or "probably the most productive offseason" as he put it to KSTP's Chris Long. That work resulted in a .265/.338/.380 line with 10 home runs. This year? Oh man, THIS YEAR. THIS IS THE YEAR. How many home runs do you think Joe Mauer will hit this year?
January 25, 201610 yr Damn. If he's in the best shape of his life right now, I can only imagine how much he'll be in shape by the end of February when reporters show up to Spring Training.
January 25, 201610 yr Well, hopefully, he has a bounce back season. He's a great enough hitter that one last great season isn't unrealistic - look at guys like Torre or Simmons who had big seasons later in their careers. Hopefully Mauer can be a top 10 OBP guy again this year.
January 25, 201610 yr I don't really get the point of Walters writing this, but you could say that about thousands of things he's written over the year. A guy's gotta troll, I guess.... I think virtually all Twins fans just really want to see it on the field at this point. No one really cares what kind of shape he's in right now or what his training plan is. We just hope (along with Mauer, I'm sure) that #7's performance is closer to what we'd previously expected.
January 25, 201610 yr Author I don't really get the point of Walters writing this, but you could say that about thousands of things he's written over the year. A guy's gotta troll, I guess.... My guess is that Walters is buddies with Erickson and Erickson is feeding him updates like that.
January 25, 201610 yr Rather than an update about his physical conditioning, I'd much rather hear an update about how he's been working with some hitting guru on sharpening his batting skills this winter.
January 25, 201610 yr Well, hopefully, he has a bounce back season. He's a great enough hitter that one last great season isn't unrealistic - look at guys like Torre or Simmons who had big seasons later in their careers. Hopefully Mauer can be a top 10 OBP guy again this year. Heck, look at Bonds. Uh, never mind.
January 25, 201610 yr Rather than an update about his physical conditioning, I'd much rather hear an update about how he's been working with some hitting guru on sharpening his batting skills this winter.He's been working with the same hitting guru since he was 5 years old... The Mauer QuickSwing..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxaqxk09Yr4
January 25, 201610 yr He is in good enough shape where the Wild had recruited him to join the team. (Sadly, they then realized he was teaching players to be more patient and selective in regards of when to shoot at the net ...). I think with the disappearance of the beard, he is bound to have a better season.http://2.cdn.nhle.com/wild/images/upload/gallery/2016/01/PariseSkatingGallery16_slide.jpg
January 25, 201610 yr He is in good enough shape where the Wild had recruited him to join the team. (Sadly, they then realized he was teaching players to be more patient and selective in regards of when to shoot at the net ...). I think with the disappearance of the beard, he is bound to have a better season.http://2.cdn.nhle.com/wild/images/upload/gallery/2016/01/PariseSkatingGallery16_slide.jpgSo MAUER is to blame for the Wild's lackluster Power Play eh? Should have known....
January 25, 201610 yr Watlers has been a cheer leader for Mauer since he was 14. Mauer is a great athlete, people should have been cheer leading for him.
January 25, 201610 yr Mauer is a great athlete, people should have been cheer leading for him. He is a cheer leader for anyone that went to Cretin. I grew up playing two sports in St. Paul and graduated in 2001. It got a little old. On one of his quick hits articles, he wrote the following: So and so, assistant football coach at Cretin, underwent minor knee surgery today. That was actually written in a newspaper. It wasn't even football season.
January 25, 201610 yr I think the hammock pix says it all. Dave St Peter's got to take him to get the MN Eye Clinic for lasik. You can't hit what you can't see!
January 25, 201610 yr Yeah he might be stronger but would he still lose a foot race with CC Sabathia?
January 25, 201610 yr Roger Erickson. Roger Erickson. Don't know why, but for some funny reason this name sounds familiar. (wonder whether they are related)
January 26, 201610 yr I'm glad to see he is making an effort (golf gut pic inserted here). Maybe he should get his vision prescription tested again too. No joke, I had 20-12 vision until I turned 40, and it's been all downhill since.
January 26, 201610 yr Yeah he might be stronger but would he still lose a foot race with CC Sabathia?Once again the great fallacy of Joe Mauer pops up. Say what you will about Joe Mauer (and I've said plenty) but he is NOT slow. He might LOOK slow, but he's not. He's probably one of the fastest first basemen in the league. Do we want our first baseman to be the fastest in the league. Maybe not. Speed in often equated to SB and Joe doesn't have many because he gets some of the worst primary and secondary leads in all of MLB. His lack of SB is almost completely attributable to risk aversion. Edited January 26, 201610 yr by amjgt
January 26, 201610 yr Once again the great fallacy of Joe Mauer pops up. Say what you will about Joe Mauer (and I've said plenty) but he is NOT slow. He might LOOK slow, but he's not. He's probably one of the fastest first basemen in the league. Do we want our first baseman to be the fastest in the league. Maybe not.Speed in often equated to SB and Joe doesn't have many because he gets some of the worst primary and secondary leads in all of MLB. His lack of SB is almost completely attributable to risk aversion.The reason it comes up is because he lost a foot race to first base against CC Sabathia. It was brutal.
January 26, 201610 yr I could probably win a foot race to first base against Usain Bolt if i started 30% closer Edited January 26, 201610 yr by amjgt
January 26, 201610 yr Speed aside (and I think he is faster than he looks), he is good at reading a ball when it is hit and getting the most out of his base running.
January 26, 201610 yr I'm in the shape of my life, also!!* *Whatever shape I'm in at whatever point in my life, I'm in the shape of my life.
January 26, 201610 yr The reason it comes up is because he lost a foot race to first base against CC Sabathia. It was brutal.Yes, it was brutal and embarassing. However, in Joe's defense he probably lost the race because he whimped out and avoided contact. It's difficult to believe this guy was recruited to play college football.
January 26, 201610 yr If the beard is gone, he hits 20 home runs, gets the average back up to around .280, and gets his OBP back to .400. If the beard remains... well, let's not think about that.
January 26, 201610 yr Once again the great fallacy of Joe Mauer pops up. Say what you will about Joe Mauer (and I've said plenty) but he is NOT slow. He might LOOK slow, but he's not. He's probably one of the fastest first basemen in the league. Do we want our first baseman to be the fastest in the league. Maybe not.Speed in often equated to SB and Joe doesn't have many because he gets some of the worst primary and secondary leads in all of MLB. His lack of SB is almost completely attributable to risk aversion. Then he is one of the laziest 1b in the league because he hardly busts it down the line on his 200 4-3's throughout the course of the year.
January 26, 201610 yr Just a moderator note, let's stick to the topic at hand and not use this to take personal shots at Joe Mauer or anyone else. I get that he's a bit controversial, but I don't think any of us can comment on his work or personal habits with any type of respectable authority, so let's leave the supposition out of it.
January 26, 201610 yr Isn't it typical for a catcher being moved to a new position to take a couple years to get back into the groove?
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