It seemed me to like Mauer has been nailing a ton of guys trying to swipe second this season. I looked into it and, lo and behold, he has nailed five guys and only allowed three stolen bases.

 

Sure, it's only May and he has only seen eight stolen base attempts but what is going on with him? Has anyone noticed a difference in his throwing mechanics behind the dish? Or has he simply gotten lucky and thrown out the ghost of Jim Thome in the majority of his attempts?

 

My problem is that I often watch a game out of the corner out of my eye and I haven't seen enough of Joe's throws to know the answer (by the time I realize a steal is on and glance at the screen, the ball is out of his hands).

I am praying for Parker to post videos about this, and give us his expert analysis..

Also, not showing up in the stats was the gun down he had at third today, only to have Plouffe miss the tag.

This is the same sort of issue I had with people concluding from last year's CS% that Mauer was "no longer a good defensive catcher." It's a small sample size, and to a very large degree runners steal bases on the pitcher.

 

While it's great to see him gunning guys down, I have to think that he'll normalize somewhere around his (above-average) career numbers. I'm not sure we can conclude anything right now.

I wonder if the pitchers do a better job.

 

Correia is difficult to run against. Worley is difficult to run against. Hernandez was difficult to run against in the minors. Pavano is very easy to run against.

Edited May 5, 201313 yr by jorgenswest

I wonder if the pitchers do a better job.

 

Correia is difficult to run against. Worley is difficult to run against. Hernandez was difficult to run against in the minors. Pavano is very easy to run against.

I think this is the big thing. Twins pitchers did a horrible job of holding runners last year. That, combined with Mauer's improved help giving him more spring out of the crouch, probably explains the early improvement. He's always had a great arm.

I agree. Joe's always had a good arm, but this year the pitchers are giving him at least a fair chance to gun 'em.

It definitely helps when every other throw isn't sailing 6 feet high and wide.

Terry Steinbach influence?

Terry Steinbach influence?

 

Huh. I didn't think of that. It's very possible.

I didn't think he was actually as bad as last year's numbers suggested (and his ability to block balls in the dirt still seemed average at the very least), but there were throwing issues last year too - it wasn't all on the pitchers.

 

I think part of it is that if there is a perception developed from last year that Mauer can't throw people out, then they will be more aggressive on the basepaths and run when they maybe would not have in the past.

 

I don't tend to get too wrapped up in controlling the stolen base game, because it really is a pretty minor part of defensive baseball (unless it's a like a Matthew LeCroy in Washington situation where they are just running at will).

No idea, but isn't stealing down overall this year? And I agree with Storm, it is a largely over rated skill, unless you are extremely bad.

I didn't think he was actually as bad as last year's numbers suggested (and his ability to block balls in the dirt still seemed average at the very least), but there were throwing issues last year too - it wasn't all on the pitchers.

 

That's not necessarily unrelated. A guy is bound to lose some accuracy on his throws when he's forced to release more quickly because the runner is almost to second by the time he receives the ball.

And he guns another down tonight. What a stupid baserunning mistake by Ciriaco.

I wonder if Joe had arm issues last year. I know he did in the injury-plagued 2011. But I wonder if they lingered into 2012. He just wasn't himself throwing the last two years. This year, he looks like his old self again,

I wonder if Joe had arm issues last year. I know he did in the injury-plagued 2011. But I wonder if they lingered into 2012. He just wasn't himself throwing the last two years. This year, he looks like his old self again,

 

I think it is his legs. He finally has his leg strength back.