Joe Mauer (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
It’s not far-fetched to say that Joe Mauer is the best hitting catcher of all time.
The Minnesota Twins great made an immediate impact upon debuting, winning the first of three AL batting titles (2006, 2008 and 2009) with a .347 average in 2006. He became the first American League catcher to win the title and the first catcher since 1942 to earn the crown.
Mauer mentions several catchers who stand out to him in MLB right now, including the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh, the Philadelphia Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto and the Kansas City Royals’ Salvador Perez.
“The guy in Seattle’s pretty fun to watch, Cal (Raleigh),” says Mauer in a one-on-one interview with RG. “He’s having an unbelievable start to the season and doing it on both sides of the plate, which has been a lot of fun to see. I liked watching J.T. Realmuto there in Philadelphia for a while. And even Salvador Perez—I know he’s at the tail end of his career—but I competed against him a while there in Kansas City. Those are three guys that jump right out at me right now.”
Perez is a nine-time All-Star who has been with the Royals since the 2011 season. He’s a former World Series MVP and champion and has five Gold Gloves to his name. The 35-year-old still holds a prominent place in the Royals’ lineup, batting fifth and ranking third on the team in RBIs.
Mauer, who ended his career after the 2018 season, matched up against Perez a number of times as both players competed in the AL Central.
“I think at the catching position, there are some guys who are middle-of-the-order-type hitters and playing good defense, too. Some of those guys just don’t come around too often. It’s fun to see some of those guys still around the league, producing at a high level on both sides of the ball.”
Big Bats and a Phenomenal Arm
Mauer batted .306 for his career and won the Silver Slugger Award five times. When asked who is the best batter in the majors today, the Twins legend mentioned several names, including Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.
“On the hitter side, there’s a lot of great hitters out there,” says Mauer.
“Ohtani has been unbelievable. Aaron Judge—what he’s doing this year is really remarkable. Then you got guys that have been doing it for a long time. I always enjoy hitting, and obviously playing out West, I don’t get to see him a whole lot, but the Mookie Betts–Freddie Freeman type of guys—I’ll always enjoy watching them play the game. There are a lot of great players in the game right now, a lot of talented players. It’s an exciting time for baseball, for sure.”
As a batter who stepped to the plate 6,930 times over his 15-year MLB career, Mauer knows a good pitcher when he sees one. He singles out Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes, 23, as the top pitcher in the game today.
“There are so many great players in today’s game, so many talented players,” says Mauer. “I think one that comes to mind as far as pitching—I do enjoy watching Skenes throw the ball there in Pittsburgh. He’s been really tough, and he’s got electric stuff. That’s the first one that probably comes to mind.”
From Yankees Heartbreak to Dodgers Dominance
Mauer spent much of his career facing powerhouse teams, including the New York Yankees. The Twins lost three times to the Yankees in the playoffs, including twice during Derek Jeter’s era.
Two of those Yankees teams featured key veterans such as Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. In fact, Mauer and the Twins went 0-7 across those three postseason series.
Today, the team that most resembles those Yankees squads is the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have won two World Series, appeared in four, and have reached the playoffs in 12 straight seasons. They also feature stars such as Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Freeman and Betts.
“Everything on paper looks pretty good for them,” Mauer continues. “But it’s baseball. You still have to go out there and play the games, and I guess we’ll see what happens. The Dodgers have done a great job of positioning themselves to make another run at it—I think deservingly so.”
While Mauer speaks highly of the reigning champs, he notes that every year is different and that moves made before the trade deadline could change everything.
“They’re probably one of the favorites, for sure,” says Mauer. “That’s the thing about baseball. Every year is different. What happened last year only matters so much, and it’s a clean slate. It’s fun to see. Once you get to June or July, that All-Star break, things start to shake out a little bit.
“Teams thinking they might have a chance—they might go out and get a guy. Or teams that thought they might have a chance at the beginning of the season—they might have thought too highly of themselves. So it definitely makes for an interesting summer,” Mauer says.
DJ Siddiqi is a sports reporter who focuses on football, basketball and pro wrestling. He has covered some of the biggest sporting events, including the NBA Finals and Wrestlemania and often interviews high-profile athletes on a weekly basis. Siddiqi has interviewed the likes of Dan Marino, Emmitt Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, Tony Hawk and Giannis Antetokounmpo. His previous experience includes working as a lead NBA writer at CBS Sports and 247 Sports in addition to working as a beat reporter covering the NFL and the Denver Broncos at Bleacher Report. Follow Siddiqi for exclusive one-on-one interviews and analysis on key topics in sports
