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2009 Twins season in review - Mauer's season for the ages
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Note: This is the fifth installment in a comprehensive ten-part series looking back at the 2009 Minnesota Twins' season. Previous entries have analyzed the team's starting pitching, relief pitching, the closer, and the middle of the batting order.
In 2009, baseball observers simply ran out of adjectives to describe Joe Mauer's season: Incredible, amazing, unbelievable, sick, among others, came to mind. It was simply one for the ages.
The Minnesota Twins' catcher and defending 2008 batting champion missed the entire month of April due to a sacroiliac joint injury (lower back for those of us without an anatomy background). He returned to the lineup on May 1 and hit a home run on his first swing. He went 7-10 in the opening series, and hit a ridiculous .414/.500/.838 with 7 doubles, 11 homers, and 32 RBI during the month of May.
His batting average would climb as high as .429 as late as June 16, and there was some talk of Mauer becoming the first player to top the .400 threshold since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Mauer never really threatened the .400 mark after the All-Star break (where he was elected to start behind the plate for the American League), but still settled in for a magical season.
Mauer's final batting line was a staggering .365/.444/.587 (an OPS of 1.031). He knocked out 30 doubles, a triple, 28 homers, and batted in 96 runs. All this from a guy who missed an entire month due to injury. He repeated as American League batting champion - his third title in six major league seasons. Prior to this season, his career high in home runs was 13, and he surpassed that figure in mid-June.
The batting figures were simply startling. His .365 average led the Major Leagues, as did his OBP of .444. His slugging percentage of .587 ranked third behind only Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, and his OPS of 1.031 ranked behind only Pujols. The batting figures were great; for a catcher, the numbers were simply incredible.
Easily lost in an analysis of Mauer's batting powress is his defense. He picked up a Gold Glove behind the plate in 2008 and will likely do the same in 2009. His arm is among the best in the American League and his ability to block pitches is recognized.
Offensively, Mauer's 2009 campaign has to rank among the great seasons for a catcher of all time. Fan Graphs' Dave Cameron explored this subject back in August and focused on Mike Piazza's magical 1997 season when he hit .362/.431/.638 for comparison. As Cameron points out, Piazza was never the defensive player that Mauer is, so the season must be compared in that context. Offensively alone, it has to rank among the best.
With free agency looming after the 2010 season, the Twins will be under pressure to sign Mauer to an extension this winter. We'll look deeper into that possibility in a later entry. The Twins will have new revenue streams available when they move into new Target Field for the 2010 season. However, keep in mind that the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees and Mets each have holes behind the plate and one could assume each would have a strong desire to pursue Mauer via free agency for 2011. Fan Graphs' R.J. Anderson looked into this topic back in August, and plenty will be written between now and next spring.
Until then, let's simply reflect upon one of the greatest individual performances of any local athlete in any one season.
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