Great hitters make average hitters good

For a while now many Twins fans, myself included, have dreamed about the Ron Gardenhire placing Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau back to back in the line-up. Just think of the damage they could do and with them both hitting lefties well there doesn’t seem like there should be anything holding this scenario up. Or is there?

While batting back to back would really make pitchers fear that part of the order, it may not allow the Twins to get the most out of the lineup one through nine. The thought occurred to me that if you were to move Morneau to the four spot this could expose Cuddyer as a much more vulnerable hitter. Not that his stats would fall apart completely but nobody wants to walk you and then pitch to Morneau and that has to help Cuddyer get better pitches to hit overall.

Similarly I would have to say that part of Punto’s success this year can be attributed to Mauer’s success who bats after him in the lineup. Some people have suggested moving Joe to the second spot and Punto down in the order and again I don’t think Punto would look like the same hitter then.

So while it might be fun to dream about the kind of stats the M&M boys could put up back to back it just might not be the optimal way to make pitchers sweat through the rest of the order. Both of these two are good enough where they don’t need someone protecting them to put up league leading numbers and placing offensively average hitters in front of them has probably elevated Punto and Cuddyer to above average play. This could also explain why our offense can seem to be so “all or nothing” at times since when Mauer isn’t hitting it really effects more then just his stats.

Also, a little off the topic but I was at the game yesterday and Santana spoiled us with another masterpiece. The ovation the crowd gave him was outstanding and after what he has done the last three years now he deserves every bit of it. What an honor to be part of it. In fact this whole season has been a dream come true for a Twins fan. Maybe we are riding on a little magic from a special center fielder who wants one more ring for Minnesota.