Was Joe Mauer’s permanent move to first base too late?

Sep 11, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Minnesota Twins first baseman Joe Mauer (7) fields a ground ball in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

In 2014, the Minnesota Twins officially took away catching duties from Joe Mauer. This wasn’t a punishment. In fact, it was probably closer to a reward.

Anyone who has ever been a catcher in a baseball game knows the punishment the position can have on the body. Pressure on the knees and hips from long squats, foul balls slammed back into every part of your existence, and the heat that builds up under the equipment on a hot summer day all make catcher the most brutal place to play on a baseball field.

Since his major league debut in 2004, Mauer has played in over 900 games as a catcher. He was, for a catcher, generally healthy until after the 2010 season when he required arthroscopic knee surgery. Before this surgery, his career batting average was .327. After the surgery he holds a still very respectable .304 batting average, but the drop is impossible to ignore.

Now a first baseman who spends time as a designated hitter to spare his body even more turmoil, Mauer is a different player. He won 3 batting titles in 4 years from 2006-2009. Still a very good bat, Mauer has regressed even if he does have one of the best batting averages in the last four seasons.

The Twins may have waited too long to move Mauer from behind the plate to first base. It’s a completely understandable mistake since Mauer was and probably still could be an exceptional fielder. When he last caught a game in 2013, Mauer led the league with by throwing out 43% of attempted base stealers and allowed just 3 passed balls all season.

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It will be hard to believe 20 years from now that Bryce Harper was a catcher too before he was drafted by the Washington Nationals. The Nationals made a wise decision by not letting him play a single professional game behind the plate. They converted him to an outfielder where he continues to play. If we thought Harper was getting hurt a lot playing the outfield, we can only ponder about potential beatings he would give himself playing hard behind the plate and diving into the dugout to catch foul popups.

Also following suit are the San Francisco Giants with their catcher Buster Posey. Although they haven’™t completely moved him over to first base, and may not for some time, Posey does start about 20-30 games a season at the position.

For him, it’s a little bit different. We already witnessed him thrown into the dangers of playing catcher in 2011 when he suffered a season-ending injury after Scott Cousins collided with him on a play at the plate. He has recovered just fine and there doesn’™t seem to be any lingering ill-effects considering he won the National League MVP the year he returned.

Since Posey is not quite a Mauer-caliber defensive catcher, we have to wonder how long before he moves to first base on a more regular basis. Surely, it must have some effect on his play, right?

In 1953 plate appearances as a catcher, Posey is hitting .301 with a .367 OBP. As a first baseman in 440 PA’s, Posey has a .354 batting average and .411 OBP. The sample size is small and would not translate directly in 162 games yet is worth mentioning to Bruce Bochy and everyone else who calls the shots for the Giants. Posey appears like he would benefit from fewer games behind the plate.

While Posey has excelled hitting as a first baseman, Mauer’s batting average is better as a catcher. This can be easily credited to his best seasons taking place when he was a catcher full-time and his career-low .277 average in 2014 as a first baseman dragging him down. It will be interesting in 2015 to see if, in his second season as the starting first baseman for the Twins, Joe Mauer can get back to hitting like he used to.