Joe Mauer is certainly a great baseball player, but his swing mechanics lead a lot to be desired. While it is rare to see hitters who have power without consistency (see Power Without Consistency (A Rare Breed)), consistency without power is quite common. When a player has this combination, his most important position, Impact, is lacking. His consistency can come from a variety of things: the speed of his body rotation (Mauer is very quick to the ball. So was Pete Rose), a level and flat bat plane (Mauer, Pujols), or just a tireless work-ethic that allows him to place the bat on the ball (Mauer, Tony Gwynn).
And you can certainly have all of those things and be a fantastic hitter, as Mauer is. But my question to Mauer: Why not add to it a superior Impact position? Not one of the above traits that improve consistency need be sacrificed in order to have a better Impact position. In fact, improving his Impact position, Mauer would not only make his swing more powerful (instantly, by the way) but he would give himself a longer Area of Impact, creating even more consistency than he has now! He could be, with a little work, the 80, .400 guy we’re looking for!
Keep the speed, Joe. Keep the flat bat-plane and the work ethic. Those are all postitive attributes. But for heaven’s sakes, buy a heavy punching bag and start working on your Impact position. It’s the easiest and quickest way to add tons more power to your swing. You’re running the bases when you could be jogging.
Joe Mauer is 6’5″, 230. Did he ever ask himself, “for all the contact I make, why don’t I have more home runs?” The swing is not a mystery, guys. There are positional reasons for statistics.