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Joe Mauer is making a mockery of Major League pitching
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You'd smile too if you were batting .429
It's almost become a joke the way Joe Mauer hits Major League pitching. While every other Big Leaguer goes through peaks, valleys and moments of doubt, Mauer keeps plugging along, seeing more pitches than any other hitter, and raking base hits to every corner of the field.
In Tuesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Mauer had four hits to boost his average to .429. .429? That's slow-pitch softball territory. What's even more impressive is that Mauer's on base percentage is .497, meaning he's on base almost every other at bat. For a frame of reference, Ted Williams, the greatest hitter of all time, had the highest career on base percentage at .482.
Before this season, there was a little room to criticize Mauer because only once had he hit double figures in homers, making him the world's largest (at 6'-5", 220 lbs) singles hitter. With his inside-out, opposite field swing, it seemed unlikely that Mauer would ever hit for much power, but this year his drives to the the opposite field are clearing the fence, and every once in a while he pulls one into the right field seats.
Long story short, Mauer can rightly be considered the best player in baseball.
When is the last time a great defensive catcher hit like Mauer? NEVER. NEVER. NEVER.
Johnny Bench twice hit 40 or more homers and three times drove in 125+ runs, Ivan Rodriguez won some Silver Sluggers, and Roy Campanella and Yogi Berra each won three MVPs, but if Mauer wins another batting title this season, and hits 20+ homers, he will change the catching position the way Cal Ripken changed the shortstop position. No longer will catchers be thought of as short and stout field generals (ala Yogi, Campy and I-Rod) who are mainly good fielders.
There's a famous scouting report on Willie Mays when he was briefly starring with the Minneapolis Millers in which the scout ran out of superlatives in describing Mays as "the greatest player I've seen in my life. Mauer's scouting report would look about the same: big, strong catcher, great arm, left-handed hitter with incredible plate discipline, rarely strikes out, hits for power, and can run like a deer. He's a model citizen, a great teammate, and always hustles. And, by the way, he's only 26 and he could get better.
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