Minnesota Twins’ catcher Joe Mauer to stay at his position – MLB News
The Minnesota Twins has showed their full confidence in Joe Mauer, the left-hand catcher as they have turned down speculations that the team was looking to change his position in the near future.
Ron Gardenhire, the Twins’ manager stated on Tuesday that they have planned to provide Joe full support to help him recover from the surgically repaired left knee.
Mauer is a tremendous player not only as a catcher, but also as a hitter. The Twins sometimes feel that they may be pushing Mauer towards injury as he is used as their catcher more times than not. Being a catcher in Major League Baseball can be very rough
on a player, as the physical demands are quite high and the constant crouching is usually bad news for the knees.
Joe had an amazing season last year as he managed to hit 75 RBIs and nine home-runs with an average of .327. His value to the team not only comes in the form of defence as catcher, but also as a hitter on the offence. Many experts and fans are surprised
that the Twins still use Mauer as a catcher even after his fine batting performances for the team.
“You’re not going to see a lot of him behind the plate right now, doing the squatting,” Gardenhire said. “We’re going to stay away from a lot of that.” He further said that team has planned to keep his workload light in full-squad training session.
Right now the main issue for Mauer is to get healthy again and try to focus on staying fit throughout the spring session. The Twins will be able to get a better look at Mauer’s performance during the spring workouts and gauge his batting without the constant
catching responsibilities.
The Twins will be looking to have a successful spring workout session to carry them into a dominating regular season. The team is very talented and has many highly skilled players that are capable of taking the squad to new heights. Regardless of what position
the Twins decide to play Mauer, one this is certain and that is the fact that his fitness level is at the highest possible.
During the spring workout sessions, the Twins will be wanting to have their team at full strength, as it is only at that time can they decide the final line-up rotations for the upcoming regular season. Mauer understands the responsibility that rests with
him as the Twins are entering into the spring session and his fitness is still slightly lacking.
It will be interesting to see what impact Mauer will have for the team and whether he is used as a catcher for the team will have any effect on his batting performance.
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