Joe Mauer: .425 BA through 160 AB

[Brewtacular]

At what point does finishing the season at .400 become relevant? Through 43 games and 160 ab's he is at .425. He is hitting over .500 at home. I believe I heard he will officially qualify for the batting title, ab wise, around the end of July.

I'm curious on what the prevailing opinion on "baby Jesus" is.

 

 

(edit: more explicative topic title --1992)

[Invader3K]

He's a great player who will give lip service about wanting to stay in Minnesota before his contract is up, and then get some insane offer from the Red Sox and Yankees, which he will happily sign.

[OglivieHomePerm]

I think that the Twins are quite happy that they chose Mauer over Mark Prior in that draft.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

He's a great player who will give lip service about wanting to stay in Minnesota before his contract is up, and then get some insane offer from the Red Sox and Yankees, which he will happily sign.

 

Except for the fact that he is native to the Twin Cities area and his family is deeply, deeply rooted there. He's going to have more money than he can spend, anyway - the local angle may be enough to keep him there.

[Invader3K]

I understand that he's from that area, but we've heard that all before with other players. If he ends up staying in Minnesota, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[endaround]

Well Polahd's dead so there is a chance the Twins don't give him an insulting offer or trade him with one year remaining.

[jjfanec]

I think that the Twins are quite happy that they chose Mauer over Mark Prior in that draft.

This is one of those times a player demanding too much money and not wanting to come to a city helped the small market team out. The Twins would have gladly chose Prior though if he did not demand a major league contract and would not have warned them that he did not want to play for them.

 

As for Mauer his swing seems so pure he definitely has a shot to flirt with .400 this year. They asked Buster Olney about it last night and he said the biggest hindrance for Mauer will be how his body holds up to catching a full year. His batting average is almost 40 points higher the first of the season compared to the second throughout his career. Having Morneau behind helps so much as well because teams simply cannot walk him. He has such a good eye I would guess he is in the .390 range at the end of the year.

[MadScientist]

I hope he keeps it up (except next week when the Twins play Milwaukee). A race for 400 is good for baseball. If he is anywhere close to 400 come September, the media push will be crazy (almost enough to overshadow the other sports media circus in Minnesota).

 

Was he out earlier in the year, as he is on a pace for 102 games. If that is part of his normal rest, he will need a few games at DH.

[pogokat]

he missed a full month of the season...if i had to guess, i'd say he ends up around 360....the crazy thing about a season like this is that he could hit 3.60 from here on out and still not get .400...it's insanely hard to do.

[Brewtacular]

he missed a full month of the season...if i had to guess, i'd say he ends up around 360....the crazy thing about a season like this is that he could hit 3.60 from here on out and still not get .400...it's insanely hard to do.

If he hits 3.6 he truly is baby Jesus!

[TooLiveBrew]

pogo makes a great point, but honestly if there's one guy in the league I'd bet on to be able to do it, it would be Mauer.

[owbc]

Missing the first month of the season and spring training should help Mauer, as his body will not wear down as quickly this year. That being said, the guy doesn't seem to even need spring training.

 

The Twins should be in good position to sign him with the new stadium opening, but Jorge Posada can't be the Yankees' catcher forever...

[eanelson4]

Except for the fact that he is native to the Twin Cities area and his family is deeply, deeply rooted there. He's going to have more money than he can spend, anyway - the local angle may be enough to keep him there.

Doubt it. There is no way the Twins will be able to match the $/year and length that another organization will give him. If he is smart, he'll sign with the Sox and their puny left field wall (even though he hits a lot of HR opposite field). They'll probably give Mark Texeira type money, maybe more. My prediction is that he is gone after the 2010 season.

 

As for Mauer batting .400, wake me up in the middle of August if he is still close. I'm not sure the talk is warranted yet. I'm a huge Joe Mauer fan and think he is easily the best left handed hitter in baseball, but batting .400 is such a feat that I can't find myself to get too excited about the prospects of it after 43 games.

[crewcrazy]

I think if he was playing first base or DHing on a regular basis, he'd have a better chance...the fact that he's doing this at catcher is pretty amazing in itself. At this rate he's going to shatter the record for batting average by a catcher, which he already holds.

 

I do think the Twins have a decent chance at signing him...like others have said, they're opening that new ballpark next year and he's been a huge draw since the day he was drafted. If they'd break the bank for one player, it'd be Mauer. Whether or not it'd be a good idea is another matter, since he likely won't be playing catcher by the end of that new contract.

[sargennm]

Honest question: Is the power he's displayed thus far this year sustainable? He already has almost as many HRs this season as he did in 2008 and 2007 combined. If he doesn't hit a lot of HRs, is he worth a big contract if he's going to have to move to a DH/1B role?

[eanelson4]

Honest question: Is the power he's displayed thus far this year sustainable? He already has almost as many HRs this season as he did in 2008 and 2007 combined. If he doesn't hit a lot of HRs, is he worth a big contract if he's going to have to move to a DH/1B role?

Probably not at this rate, but a little less. He has 13 HR in 190 AB's (14.61 AB/HR). Divided Mauer's season average of ABs by that rate, and that would be about 41 HRs. IDK if he is a 41 HR guy, but I don't have any doubt that he can get 25-35 HR per year from here on out.

[endaround]

Hittracker has Mauer with a bunch of home runs just at 350 feet, so its a decent amount of luck with his power.

[Ennder]

The fact that he already missed time and likely won't play every day are huge advantages for him since no hitter in baseball is close to a real .400 hitter so it will take variance/luck to achieve it and both those factors help.

[BrewCrewForever]

I like Mauer a lot. Stud player, and now that he has developed power he is just scary. I think if anyone in MLB can do it, it's him. I hope he keeps it up and flirts with .400 all year.

 

I have to imagine with how good his bat is that someday he plays 1B or LF, while DH'ing some.

[UeckerAddict]

I personally think Tony Gwynn would have had a better shot to hit .400 in the strike shortened year (had it not be shortened) than Mauer does this year. I think those hitters will the real short/swatting swings, like Gwynn or Ichiro, are the types of guys who can really have a shot. I remember the Olerud watch during his big year. Everyone was really exited, and then he steadily decreased and people forgot about it. The law of averages say it won't happen. I would love it if he did, but I would bet every penny of mine against it (with "not enough at bats" as a push).

[mls4]

Well the Brewers knocked him down 12 points from .407 to .395. He is in a slump, only hitting .200 in the week since this was first posted, dropping his BA 30 points.