* Glen Perkins surrendered the game-winning homer to Brandon Inge on Saturday night, continuing a troubling trend of poor performance for the lefty. He's has been charged with at least one earned run in nine of 16 appearances since the beginning of August.
It seems fair to speculate that Perkins may be wearing down here late in the season. He worked almost exclusively as a starter in the minors and has never experienced this type of workload before.
Perkins had never pitched in more than 39 games in a prior season; Saturday's appearance was his 59th this year.
* Michael Cuddyer earned praise from several local scribes a couple weeks ago when he heroically asked into the lineup for a meaningless game after taking a pitch to the wrist the night before. Since the plunking, Cuddyer has gone 4-for-34 (.118) with 10 strikeouts, and now the wrist has been bothering him enough that he hasn't played in a week.
Meanwhile, Joe Mauer, who sat out to let a sore neck heal at the same time Cuddyer was playing through a debilitating wrist injury, is back in the lineup and producing. He even a caught a game in Detroit over the weekend -- his first time since August 20th.
Turns out resting might actually be the smart approach with certain injuries rather than toughing it out and playing hurt in order to satisfy some ridiculous tenet of machismo. Imagine that.
* In his first 19 major-league plate appearances, Joe Benson has three hits and seven strikeouts. I wrote last week that whiffs figure to be a major issue for the promising young outfielder.
Monday, September 12, 2011
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22 comments:
"He even a caught a game in Detroit over the weekend"
OMG, how amazing! He played defense for the first time in a 3 weeks! Wow!
Interesting, though, how Mauer was able to fight through this injury and DH for a few games before being able to catch. He wasn't willing to do that in May/June, when the season wasn't yet lost and his team really needed him. "I signed here to catch," remember?
The Cuddy love is obnoxious, yes. But to lavish praise on someone other than Cuddy for playing defense for the first time in 3 weeks after sitting out with someone most of us averages joes wake up with every morning? You're better than that, Nick.
Can we agree on this? 1. The "Cuddy is tough" angle has gotten way, way out of hand. 2. It's becoming increasingly difficult to count on Joe Mauer being an every day catcher for this club.
Dear lord, Ed Bast. The "lavish praise" is a single sentence that you still managed to take out of context by removing the last part:
He even a caught a game in Detroit over the weekend -- his first time since August 20th.
You're better than that, Ed Bast. Oh wait... no you're not.
"Turns out resting might actually be the smart approach with certain injuries rather than toughing it out and playing hurt in order to satisfy some ridiculous tenet of machismo. Imagine that."
Loved this! I love your blog.
I'm with Ed on this one. The vitriol aimed at Mauer is often overstated these days, but he's being used here as an example of good sense winning out over toughness. Granted, the numbers on Cuddyer don't lie, but propping up Mauer, however briefly, as an example of playing it smart might be a stretch when placed in context with the nagging injuries that every major-league regular has to deal with during the course of a season. If every player had the luxury of being so prudent, my guess is there would be a lot more regulars sitting on the bunch a couple days a week.
All I'd really like to know about Mauer is what management and teammates think about his series of hurts this year. If they're cool with it, confident that he's done everything he can to get on the field this year, then we should all be cool with it.
ha..."bench", not "bunch". In Mauer's case he is indeed sitting on a "bunch" however. A bunch of cash.
"The "lavish praise" is a single sentence that you still managed to take out of context by removing the last part."
How does that remove any of the context? Twice in my post I mentioned the 3 weeks. Way to not read a single word of my post and then comment. If anything, I did Nick a favor by leaving out the last part - the August 20th makes his claim sound all the more ridiculous - "Look boys and girls, our catcher caught a game a mere 3 weeks after having a crick in his neck!"
Mauer producing? Not a 23 million dollar level, he's not.
Mauer producing? Not a 23 million dollar level, he's not.
This season is obviously a lost cause overall, but since August 20th he's hitting .354/.446/.563. I think that's about the production you hope for from him. Hopefully he can finish strong and put the leg problems behind him during the offseason.
Ed,
If Mauer is playing at DH a lot more often than Catcher lately, can you accept that as evidence that his leg (or possibly his neck and other parts) still isn't really healthy? That his efforts to play Catcher anyway in early April and June/July are evidence that he's tried to tough it out for the team, if at all possible, when "his team really needed him"? And that he's logging a lot of time at DH now, not because he's soft or unreliable, but mainly because the team's position in the standings allows him the luxury?
Btw, since the start of July, who has been the most valuable player on the team? Yeah, that would be Mauer, 1.9 fWAR. Cuddyer in the same span, 1.1 fWAR (-0.3 fWAR so far this month).
Nick, there's a very simple reason why you don't hear people railing on Cuddyer now that he's hurt while Mauer's playing...
It's because the Twins are no longer relevant. The "Mauer is soft" issue was brought up as something for the local sports media to rally around since they couldn't theorize about blockbuster deadline deals and trade possible playoff rotations.
Now that the Vikings and Gophers have taken to the gridiron, the press will quickly move on to whatever talking point they can use to keep the attention of the most casual of MN sports fans.
Cuddy just lucked out that his injury came at a time when the team was no longer the only show in town, and Mauer picked a bad time to start getting healthy since nobody's paying attention anymore.
This season is obviously a lost cause overall, but since August 20th he's hitting .354/.446/.563. I think that's about the production you hope for from him. Hopefully he can finish strong and put the leg problems behind him during the offseason.
Interesting choice of dates, as Mauer has caught exactly one game since then. I haven't looked at his batting average by position, but I think it's fair to hypothesize that in order to maintain his recent lofty batting numbers will require an extreme downgrading in his games at catcher.
I haven't looked at his batting average by position, but I think it's fair to hypothesize that in order to maintain his recent lofty batting numbers will require an extreme downgrading in his games at catcher.
I think you are right. I've been advocating for a position switch since May.
It's not ideal, but it is what it is.
@jokin- yeah, it's time for a Mauer position change. Everyone says that Mauer's hitting numbers, while extraordinary for a catcher, don't warrant a huge contract at another position.
Which is a fair point. But it seems he can't really catch anymore. And I think it's fair to think that if he can put up elite numbers (aside from HR numbers) while playing catcher, he could get even better playing a position that isn't so wearing for him now.
I agree with Nick- certainly not ideal, but it is what it is. No point in continuing to complain about it.
I think you're guilty of some pretty selective and short-sighted data selection here, Nick.
When you look at what Cuddyer's "I want to be in the lineup" attitude accomplished in 2011, it stacks up pretty well with what Joe Mauer has accomplished in 2011.
Any time Mauer is out, Butera/Rivera is in, and that's not good, no matter if Mauer is 100% healthy or not. Major league players either play when they're not completely healthy, or they never become regular major league players. No player goes through a 6 month season without getting sore, tired, and ding'd up. Many players play through that as much as possible.
Mauer's very first knee injury, his growth spurt after 2006 - resulting in the upper ' mysterious’ thigh injury, his low back problem and kidney surgery, followed by this years knee surgery all add up to the reason why Mauer himself said he has had difficulty driving off (planting and grounding) hid back (left) leg. He's a mess. Doesn't know how to strength train. Strength coach/trainer is incompetent and Mauer himself is likely feckless in handling his recovery. I heard Bill Smith talk about Mauer today ... regarding strengthening. Sounded like nobody knows how to train; Smith is an idiot. I have 20 years experience teaching biomechanics, physics, and strength training. Smith indicated mauer is overtraining and reflected a ton ignorance in his interview. Mauer is clueless and I bet his trainer is too. Only a few get it... the training staff is clueless. Too many injuries all around. We'll see how Mauer heals in the offseason. I'm confident his catching days are doomed. He may never develop power. What a shame. Waste. He'll probably overtrain.
Major league players either play when they're not completely healthy, or they never become regular major league players. No player goes through a 6 month season without getting sore, tired, and ding'd up. Many players play through that as much as possible.
Given that Joe Mauer plays catcher -- a far more demanding and dangerous assignment than RF/1B -- and has put in more time at that position over the past six years than almost anybody else in baseball, I think it's fair to say he's been doing just that.
"Joe Mauer plays catcher -- a far more demanding and dangerous assignment than RF/1B"
He's a hero, really. When I think of "dangerous" professions, I generally land on:
-Fireman
-Policeman
-Catcher
In no particular order.
Seriously, enough with the hyperbole!
Catching is more dangerous than playing right field or first base. That is not hyperbole, it is fact. Ask Buster Posey.
No, it is not as dangerous as being a policeman or fireman. Great point. Well done.
I suppose catching is more "dangerous" than RF/1B, in the same way a Whopper is "healthier" than a Big Mac.
We get it, you don't like Jim Souhan. But turning Mauer into a hero for merely suiting up, just for the sake of argument?
When did I turn Mauer into a hero? Weren't you the one asking for a stop to the hyperbole?
With two hits so far today cuddy must be healthy.
Since Joe Mauer entered the pros... how did it become an axiom, "catching is dangerous?" Demanding?... yes, but looking at Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, Carlton Fisk, etc... we didn't hear this B.S. Nick... Buster Posey wasn't hurt by the demanding 'crouch position' which Mauer can't handle, but by getting bulled over. That's the only dangerous part. But how many times have we heard how Mauer takes his lumps tipped balls and such? I have NEVER heard a team... including announcers, prior to this year repeatedly 'educate' and remind the fans on what a tough position playing catcher is. I never hear such a high volume of blabber applied toward any other catcher in my life. Now you (Nick) and plenty of other folks repeat like brainwashed automatons how "dangerous" and demanding this position is. Wake up. Ya'all drank the cool aid a long time ago. Mauer's knee is screwed. I'd bet money he will never be the same. Can anyone say, chondromalacia, or worse? Wake up you Mauer "lovers"... you're going to see the so-called Mauer "haters" are correct.
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