Mauer, The Best Catcher In The MLB?
Right when the future didn’t look too good for the Twins there savior came. On Thursday Joe Mauer started in his second straight game at first and made a huge impact for the Twins, propelling them to their second straight win. The move to first seems to have given Mauer a boost in confidence, take a necessary grind off his body, and given the Twins a very encouraging boost. Mauer has appeared to snap out of a funk that has lasted him this whole injury- plagued year. So while there are many valuable catchers in the MLB the argument constantly persists, is Mauer the best? Since he came into the league fully in 2005 he has put up unbelievable numbers posting a 32.7 WAR( a stat that attempts to measure the total value of a player over his replacement throughout a season), Victor Martinez finished well behind in second with a 22.2 WAR.
Mauer has consistently put up great numbers, won batting titles and won MVP’s, as a catcher, which is extremely hard to do and has not been done too often, only 16 times to be exact. The affect that Mauer has on a team like the Twins ,who have been struggling and are just now starting to get into a groove, cannot be measured only by numbers but other factors must be taken into account also. He brings with him a sense of confidence that other younger players can feed off of and use on the field. He brings with him experience that can be used not only on the field but off the field to help others stay out of trouble. His production at the plate during crunch time is undoubtedly something that the Twins have been missing all season. Now although Mauer can make a huge difference for the Twins and possibly improve their record by one or two wins, he can’t do it all. Eventually other players are going to have to get injury free, get out of their funk and start to produce.
The biggest problem this year though might be the pitching that the Twins have had, a few pitchers have been consistent, while others have not. The Twins are currently ranked 25th in total ERA and 26th in BAA, numbers that definitely won’t get it done in the playoffs if the Twins happen to make it. So I guess the point here is that while Mauer’s stats may not be up to par with the catchers that he has blown away statistically in the past, maybe vakue cannot be measured only by stats. Now I know Joe Mauer isn’t going to win the MVP this year and that’s not what I’m trying to say. But what I am saying is that when considering value to a team Joe Mauer takes a back seat to no one. Statistically he is not the MVP but when measuring solely by the value that a player brings to his team’s table Mauer is definitely the MVP, without Mauer the Twins have no real shot of making it into the playoffs. Taking one great player away from the Twins has seemingly ruined their season, the same cannot be said about any other team.
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A little unsolicited grammar advice…
Next time, MLB doesn’t need an article. MLB stands for Major League Baseball – it wouldn’t make sense to say “Mauer, the Best Catcher in the Major League Baseball”.
Two other things to watch out for are the whole “there, their, they’re” thing and incorrect use of commas.
Writing is obviously a passion of yours, so make sure to take some English classes and put effort into them. And keep it up!