An early spring moment for Two Joes
Posted on February 25th, 2008 – 9:40 AMBy Joe Christensen
Joe Mauer knew he was going to face Joe Nathan in the batting cage Sunday, so he decided to have a little fun.
Mauer told the guys in his hitting group he would take a rip at the first pitch (very un-Mauer like), figuring he’d get a fastball, and if he launched one over the fence, he was going to leave the cage immediately, forgoing the rest of his five pitches.
As in, “This stuff is too easy.”
Sure enough, Mauer got a first-pitch fastball, and he ripped Nathan’s offering to deep left field, nearly hitting an opposite-field home run. The rest of the hitters were oohing and aahing, and the ball landed just short of a home run. It would have been extra bases, for sure.
Not to be outdone, Nathan later came back and jammed Mauer with a two-seam fastball, breaking his bat. Nathan always has thrown a four-seam fastball, a pitch that is easier to control. The two-seamer is a work in progress because it has more movement.
Mauer later signed the broken bat with the words, “Nice two-seamer, thanks. Joe Mauer #7.”
“He’s been one of the best closers in baseball, and he’s still trying to get better,” Mauer said later, marveling.
31 Responses to "An early spring moment for Two Joes"
Good to see Joe working on the 2 seamer. Should get some easy ground balls. I expect Joe to pitch a lot of innings this year, so this is great.
i hope we just get joe signed soon..hes a part of this team that would be sorely missed..lets not even go there…this team could be special, contrary to what alot of naysayers are talking about and joe n deserves to be a big part of this…sign him NOW please
joe…anything special to say about pridie?? have been waiting to hear something about him…i am very hopeful that he gives gomez a very good fight if not win the cf job and send gomez to AAA for year
I just had a flash of Joe Nathan our Closer of the LEAVING breaking the wrists of our oft-injured catcher.
And the sad part is I didn’t even get emotional… I half expect it. How sad is that to be that certain that Mauer will be injured before the end of spring training?
I’m glad to see he’s human and has a sense of humor.
WOW look what happens when you swing at the first pitch once in awhile. instead of taking the first 20 pitches you see, Sometimes it pays to be aggressive.
Nathan and Mauer bring back memories of that fun and talented team of 2006. That group played well together as a team. Most of those guys are gone now.
This current group of players, overall, aren’t as talented, and just aren’t that interesting to me.
The bullpen on this team is still pretty good. Most of those guys are left over from 2006. The bullpen is the one bright spot on this team.
Of the position players on that 2006 team which ones of than Hunter would you guarantee a spot to on this team? I think an argument could be made that other than pitching this team is stronger than the 2006 team. Obviously pitching is huge but the positional players overall are better now than they were then.
Hunter of course was good in 2006. Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer were there in 2006, and are returning. The little piranha really did the job in 2006. Punto, Castillo at the top of the lineup and Bartlett and Tyner at the bottom. Those guys all hit around .300 with a pretty good, overall, OBP. They raced around the bases. That lineup put up 801 runs on the year. I don’t think the current group is as good.
X
Even though those guys hit for a better average they left a lot of ducks on the pond that year. I think we will see a lot more doubles and home runs this year then we did the last two years.
These are the kinds of fun stories I like out of Spring Training. Mauer takes him deep, so Nathan saws him off. Great little exchange.
WOW look what happens when you swing at the first pitch once in awhile. instead of taking the first 20 pitches you see
The reason it worked was because it was “Unmauer” of him to do it. If Mauer starts swinging at those first pitch strikes they’ll stop throwing them.
See how that works?
Joe, have a couple questions about the roster that the Twins have yet to answer. Their website shows a 41 man 40-man roster, which we know isn’t possible? After signing Hernandez, what other move did they make. Second, any word on the PTBNL in the Monroe deal? If you could, would appreciate your feedback on these two. Thanks!
Roger, go to Seth’s site as he has the answer to the 40 man mistery.
T,
If Mauer NEVER swings at first pitch strikes,
and the pitchers KEEP throwing them,
How is that an advantage for Mauer?
If Mauer occasionally swings at first pitch strikes,
and the pitchers STOP throwing them,
how is that a disadvantage for Mauer?
No sense writing a team off before the first game, I suppose. A lineup is always a work in progress. The Twins started 2006 with Batista, Castro and White in the lineup everyday, and made themselves better as the year wore on. The current group just looks to me, at this time, to be a little lacking in the run scoring department.
X
Obviously Mauer, Morneau, and Cuddy are still on the team and they should be better than they were in 2006. I think Young will have slightly less or about the same numbers as Hunter did in 2006. Lamb should have a much better OPS than any of the guys that are gone and Harris should be about the same as Castillo that year. That leaves Bartlett vs. Everett which goes to Bartlett.
Oh and Kubel as the DH will be better than he or anyone else was DHing in 2006
T: The reason it worked was because it was “Unmauer” of him to do it. If Mauer starts swinging at those first pitch strikes they’ll stop throwing them.
Hence the qualifier “once in awhile.”
Since Gardy is a little skeptical of Harris’ fielding ability, I wonder if he might use Harris as a four position infield reserve. That could get him plenty of at bats. I don’t know if Harris has ever handled first base.
Looks like Mauer will bat 2nd. So 2 through 6 looks good.
But 2006 still looks much better. Bartlett & Castillo v. Gomez & Harris? Not even close.
So 7-8-9 will be Lamb/Harris/Everett, which is pretty weak.
And the leadoff hitter is a big ? mark too.
2006 still looks much better. X is right.
I would say that 2-8 will be stronger than 2006 in every spot, but the lead off spot and the 9 hole are going to be weaker. How does that make 2006 better? Harris is a better hitter than Bartlett so you are really comparing Everett to Punto.
did this end the italics?
guess not
Our offense will score more runs than in 2006 we are improved (offensively) in nearly every position.
Let the 2006 team play the 2008 team.
Loosen up Radke.
I’ll bet Brad can still bring it enough to make this rotation he would be a great addition to this staff.
[…] Around the Majors wrote an interesting post today on An early spring moment for Two JoesHere’s a quick excerptAn early spring moment for Two Joes Monday, February 25th, 2008 Joe Mauer knew he was going to face Joe Nathan in the batting cage Sunday, so he decided to have a little fun. Mauer told the guys in his hitting group he would take a rip at the first pitch (very un-Mauer like), figuring he’d get a fastball, and if he launched one over the fence, he was going to leave the cage immediately, forgoing the rest of his five pitches. As in, “This stuff is too easy.” Sure enough, Mauer got a first-p […]
BC,
I’ve heard bad vibes before and negative karma, but you just won the Oscar..
It was funny!!!! lol
(Mauer showed warning track power)
Bartlett & Castillo v. Gomez & Harris
Harris and Bartlett at worst is a wash. Castillo v. Gomez? Gomez has wheels. Castillo’s legs were gone when the Twins traded him. He knew it, he admitted it.
Let the 2006 team play the 2008 team.
Which 2006 team? The one that stunk the place up for the first 4 months…or the one that got hot for the next four and stunk the place up again in the playoffs?
I’d rather have a consistently good offense than an explosive offense that diffuses too early.
So Castillo admitted his legs were bad, while stealing 19 bases last year. He and Bartlett will bat .290 as a pair.
And Bartlett is WAY better than Harris defensively.
Gomez is a big ? mark.
They’ll play the game this year, and then we’ll all know. But at present, it’s still 2006 over 2008. Not even close.
