Fire Gardy

Remember when Joe Mauer used to be good at baseball?

It was a simpler time then. A time of ice cream and apple sauce and those little sparkler things that never actually hurt anyone but always seem like they’re about to. And Mauer was putting on a ridiculous hitting clinic, absolutely tearing up the American League.

It was May, 2009. In Mauer’s first 29 games this season, he hit .431/.516/.873, with 12 HR, 7 2B, 35 RBI, and 28 R. He was on a tear. The man could not be stopped.

In the 9 games since then, he’s hitting just .351/.415/.405, with 0 HR, 2 2B, 1 RBI, and 6 R. He’s still sneaking the occasional single through the infield, but he’s completely lost his power.

The difference between an IsoP of .442 and an IsoP of .054 is the difference between Ruth and Tyner. Not only is it not the same player, it’s not even the same league. (Possibly not even the same species.)

Well, apparently he’s been feeling sick lately.

Joe Mauer is sick, but in the lineup. He said he started feeling bad in Seattle. He looked and sounded horrible when I saw him this morning.

“Just pull a Michael Jordan.” I said to him.

“Sometimes you play better when you’re not feeling well.” Mauer said. “Maybe it will help.”

He really started looking bad in Seattle, and it hasn’t abated. Since the beginning of the Seattle series, Mauer is hitting .310/.375/.379 — decent for a catcher, but this isn’t the superstar we bargained for.

He’ll probably never post a 1.300 OPS for a month again, but we sure need him to get up over .800, each and every month. So hopefully he can kick whatever’s ailing him and start hitting again soon.

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