Joe Mauer used to offer tentative opinions in the Minnesota Twins' meetings with pitchers before every series, maybe because he is unfailingly polite or perhaps because he is naturally respectful. He'd recite the information on the scouting reports like a television news reader, speaking without conviction about what he was reading.
But midway through last year, Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson nudged Mauer to become more assertive and to exercise the enormous respect that the team's pitchers have for him. "All of our pitchers have so much faith in him," Anderson said. "I said, 'Joe, speak from your heart about what you want to do. You tell them what you want. You tell them how you want to pitch to a certain guy.'"
It wasn't long before Mauer, rather than Anderson, was running the meeting of pitchers and leading the staff. So last month, when Mauer was on the disabled list with inflammation in his lower back, Anderson told Manager
Ron Gardenhire that while he understood the catcher was an elite hitter, what he really was looking forward to, for the Twins, was getting back Mauer "to run the staff and shut down the running game. I didn't care about the offensive part of it. No disrespect for [Mike] Redmond and [Jose] Morales, but I was looking forward to getting back [Mauer]."
Anderson watched knowingly from the bench on Monday as Mauer subtly guided
Francisco Liriano through a
strong outing against the Tigers. Liriano's problems arise when he goes too fast, when he rushes and tries to do too much, and Mauer slowed him down by making him use his changeup, and by going to the mound a lot. "He has kind of a calming effect on these guys," Anderson said.
Leadership, Part II: Some advance scouts have talked about how they see signs of
Albert Pujols embracing an even greater role as leader of the Cardinals this season, about his increased attention to detail in all that he does, about how he interacts with others on the field. St. Louis GM
John Mozeliak agrees.
"You see him visit the mound more, talk to the pitchers," Mozeliak said. "He's clearly more aggressive baserunning. He's doing lots of little things right all the time. Really, he's an amazing player.
"We have a young club, and when you look at veteran players, he's obviously someone that the others look up to. The identity of this team has been his for a while, but we've had a lot of very good players attached to the successes in '04 and '05. Now when you think of the St. Louis Cardinals, you think first of Albert Pujols."
Elsewhere …
• The Diamondbacks just keep losing and keep struggling for runs, and GM
Josh Byrnes would not directly address the status of manager
Bob Melvin nor that of hitting coach
Rick Schu,
writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The D-Backs' lineup got
shut down again, and they already are 8 ½ games out of first place.
Dings and dents
1. The Atlanta Braves'
Brian McCann is set to
test his vision, as David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.
2. New York Yankees catcher
Jorge Posada was placed on the disabled list, and
Jose Molina will
catch in his place.
3.
A-Rod continues to make progress in his rehab, and is expected to be back in the lineup on Friday or
shortly thereafter, as Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News writes.
4. Houston Astros pitcher
Roy Oswalt has a
bruised right index finger.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates closer
Matt Capps has some
elbow trouble.
6. The Milwaukee Brewers'
Bill Hall has a
hamstring issue, but says he's feeling OK.
7. Florida Marlins pitcher
Scott Proctor is headed to
see Dr. James Andrews.
8. Cincinnati Reds shortstop
Alex Gonzalez is
hurting again, as Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News writes.
9.
Kevin Youkilis sat out with
tightness in his side.
10. Seattel Mariners outfielder
Ken Griffey, Jr. is still
sidelined.
The story behind Big Papi's dropped production
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Buster Olney
