Twins players and coaches and fans alike roared in response on Friday night when Joe Mauer surpassed Rod Carew on the team’s all-time hit list.
If it was the last time they’ll get to celebrate a Mauer moment, Target Field did it properly. Mauer’s 12-hopper through the vacated left side of the infield in the fifth inning moved him into second place in Minnesota Twins history with 2,086 hits. The crowd of 22,568 immediately rewarded the veteran with a lengthy standing ovation while teammates and even several Oakland A’s opponents acknowledged the moment.
Kirby Puckett.
Joe Mauer.
Rod Carew.#MauerMilestones #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/m2DsbfJZ4A— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 25, 2018
But this isn’t the last Twins milestone within Mauer’s reach.
His single has him 218 hits away from Kirby Puckett’s team record of 2,304. However, with Mauer’s future uncertain beyond the 2018 season, the question after the team’s 7-1 loss to the A’s is whether or not the St. Paul native would have the opportunity to eventually pass Puckett for the team record. Manager Paul Molitor not only thinks the 35-year-old Mauer is up to the task, he made it sound as if whether or not the veteran wants to move past his hero is up to him.
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“He’s capable, for sure,” Molitor said. “Joe’s, you know, he’s a private guy. I’m sure some of the things that he’s pondering, where this is going to go, I think we’re all going to be very attuned to what his desires are. I would imagine you would want to probably have some removal from the emotion of the season to see where you want to go. But I think we’re all hopeful that Joe’s going to keep playing baseball.”
Now in his 15th full season, Mauer still has it.
No, this isn’t the same player who belted 28 home runs during his 2009 Most Valuable Player campaign. And yes, it certainly takes Mauer more time to get his body prepared for the rigors of the daily grind.
Yet Mauer — who is in the final season of a contract that paid him $184 million over eight years — has continued to play at a high level. Overall, Mauer is hitting .275/.353/.374 with five home runs and 39 RBIs in 412 plate appearances.
While those figures don’t jump off the page, Mauer has proven to be extremely dangerous whenever he hits with runners in scoring position, where he’s hitting .424/.512/.621 with three home runs and 36 RBIs in 82 plate appearances.
“It’s pretty special to watch,” said Twins starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi. “He’s just a great player who has done it consistently for a number of years. He probably doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves, to be quite honest. It’s pretty special what he’s able to do on a daily basis, night-in/night-out, playing first, DH-ing, switching from catcher where he was arguably the best in the game. He’s had a phenomenal career that’s gonna keep going until I think he decides he’s done.”
If his future beyond these next 34 games is on his mind, Mauer isn’t showing it and he’s certainly not talking about it. Sticking to the tone he set in spring training, when he said his sole focus was on getting the Twins back to the postseason, Mauer said he hasn’t thought much about the possibility of passing Puckett.
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His body feels as you’d expect — “like it’s late August — It’s still going out there every night and competing. I enjoy that,” he said. And Mauer enjoyed the appreciation he received on Friday.
Beyond that, stay tuned.
“I don’t know,” Mauer said. “I mean, obviously, he’s one of my favorites. Probably a lot of people around my age from Minnesota’s favorite. I play. I enjoy putting this uniform on every day. If that happens, that would be great, but that’s not something I’m really concentrating on.”
And it’s not something that Molitor is currently fretting over. He suspects Mauer will take some time after the season ends to figure out whether or not he’d like to continue on. Until then, Molitor doesn’t intend to go for the sales pitch.
“I talk to Joe from time to time, and without trying to bring out more than I feel that we need to at this time,” Molitor said. “I don’t think there’s anything that’s imminent that needs to be considered here, we’re all just going to follow the timetable that the rest of the season and the offseason will bring. …
“I think there’s a lot more in there and we’ll see where it goes from here.”
Odorizzi pitches well but takes the loss anyway
When he retired Stephen Piscotty to start the seventh inning, Odorizzi accomplished something he hadn’t yet this season. For the first time all year, Odorizzi recorded an out in the seventh inning. It snapped an MLB-record 26 straight starts to begin a season without recording an out in the seventh inning.
But Odorizzi didn’t stop there, retiring two more batters and completing seven sharp innings. Odorizzi allowed two runs (one earned) and five hits with a walk and four strikeouts in seven innings.
“Things were pretty in control today,” Odorizzi said. “The defense behind me turned some nice double plays. (Mitch) Garver and I were on the same page pretty much the whole outing. Execute pitches and get outs. That’s pretty much it.”
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“I said I wanted to get back out there. I was throwing the ball. I told (Molitor) I wanted to go back out there and I felt good. He let me go back out there and I’m happy I was able to get a 1-2-3 inning to be able to save the bullpen a few outs.”
(Top image: Joe Mauer hits the single that moved him into second place on the Twins’ all-time hit list. Credit: Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
