Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Catcher Joe Mauer did not start for the first time in 2013 on Friday night when the Minnesota Twins opened up their series at home against the Boston Red Sox. Mauer has suited up for all 36 games prior to the contest, but was forced to miss a game with a stiff back. Should the Twins be worried about Mauer’s back forcing him to miss more games in the near future?
Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire does not believe fans should get worked up about the 30-year-old missing one game. Even though it is a possibility that the nine-year veteran could miss Saturday’s start as well, it does not mean that there is anything serious going on.
“It’s pretty simple here — he came in with a stiff back and there’s no sense of him playing in this weather,” Gardenhire said, according to MinnesotaTwins.com. “[The trainers] said to give him a day here and we’ll go from there. I listen to what they say.”
Mauer has dominated in the month of May, and is a big reason why Minnesota is slowly climbing back up the American League Central standings. He has the highest batting average (.349) and on-base percentage (.431) in the most at-bats (146) on the team this season, prior to Friday’s game. In fact, he has the third highest batting average as well as on-base percentage among hitters in the AL with at least 100 at-bats.
The Minnesota native also happens to be on a 14-game hitting streak. Over that span, he has not crushed a home run once and has only recorded five RBI. However, he has been able to get on base in front of the sluggers, which is why the Twins have dominated on offense the past few weeks.
Hopefully, Mauer’s stiff back is nothing more than a day to day injury that will subside soon.
