Monday, March 05, 2012

Joe Mauer hit into a double play!

Today in the Twins spring training game (or yesterday or whatever)Joe Mauer grounded into a double play. It triggered a lot of jokes about Mauer being back to his form, grounding into double plays and eerything, and I remembered a period a couple years ago, where Mauer actually bunted because he was flustered by the amount of double plays he was initiating.
Let's think about this a bit more rationally, though. There are reasons why Mauer hits into double plays. He makes contact. He makes solid contact. He drives the ball up the middle. These aren't bad things. Also adding to his double play conundrum: the batters ahead of him get on base.
So I guess the question I have is... what would you have him do? He's the best hitter on the team. Do you want to waste that by bunting? Would you rather he strike out? He grounds into double plays because he's unlucky. It's not a mental thing, and it's not a physical thing. So give it up. I would rather he keep trying to drive the ball. I can't believe this would even be a debate.

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