Minnesota Twins Player of the Week: Mauer shines brightest to end April
Joe Mauer closes out the month of April as Minnesota Twins Player of the Week
Heading into the final week of the first month of the season, it seems preposterous to think that we are just now recognizing perhaps the most valuable of the Minnesota Twins in April but here we stand as first baseman Joe Mauer has been named Player of the Week.
Mauer continued his very strong start by going 8-for-22 with two doubles, two RBI’s and three runs.
He proved to be one of the few bright spots for the Twins who finished this week’s home stand at 2-4. During Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Tigers, Mauer went 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
This performance extended Mauer’s streak of reaching base in every game this season and improved his on-base percentage to an America League-leading .459.
His early success has all but shown the concussion symptoms have truly been put in the past and that those effects may be why the veteran struggled in 2015.
Overall, Mauer is coming out much more aggressive but perhaps the most improved statistic has been his ability to cut down on strikeouts (9) and take some walks (20), both classic Mauer traits.
Not to mention his batting average, which is a cool .337, good for fifth in the AL.
If these numbers continue throughout the season, then we may be looking a total career renaissance for the former MVP. Sure, the power numbers aren’t there but that’s never really been something Mauer has been known for.
Mauer’s performance has been one of the lone bright spots for the Twins and the positive is that he has been through it all during his career and knows all he can control is his own performance.
And if Miguel Sano, Byung Ho Park, Trevor Plouffe and Oswaldo Arcia all continue to improve and drive in some runs, Mauer won’t really need to put up big home run numbers.
The only unfortunate part of that is the if. The offense has been anything but a consistent force this year.
And while this may sound like a broken record, it is still very early in the season. And if the Twins can come close to repeating last year’s successful May, the Twins could find themselves right back in the thick of things.
But the Twins can’t count on last season’s successful May to just happen again but if it does, Mauer will play an important part in that.
April is over and Mauer has been excellent, now comes the time where he continues his success and hopefully Puckett’s Pond will be able to name him Player of the Week a few more times but on better circumstances for the Twins.