Joe Mauer: Will His Return Upset Minnesota Twins' Turnaround?

Is the time right for Joe Mauer to return to the Minnesota Twins lineup? Mauer is set to make his return on Friday when the Twins host the Padres as the Twins are playing their best baseball of the season.

Since June, the Twins have won 11 of 14 games, outscoring their opponents 64-33, on their way to winning their fourth straight series, while batting .262—almost 20 points higher than their season average.

Minnesota starters have gone 9-3 with three complete games and a 2.06 ERA in 96.1 innings since the Twins turnaround began.  

The return of the three-time batting champion and league MVP could have a negative impact on the chemistry of the Twins. As Alexi Casilla, Ben Revere and Luke Hughes have picked up their games recently, how will Mauer's insertion into the lineup affect the production the Twins have enjoyed? 

During Dan Barriero's Bumper-to-Bumper show  on KFAN radio Wednesday afternoon, he played an interview of Twins radio analyst and former Twins outfielder Dan Gladden with the Score 670 in Chicago.

Gladden's comments questioned Mauer's toughness and approach. Gladden lauded the work ethics of Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer and pointed out that Mauer may not have been ready when he reported in spring training following his knee surgery in December.

When you're the highest paid player on the team, and the public recognizes you as the face of the franchise, some of that needs to carry over into the locker room and onto the field in the form of leadership—something that has been lacking from Mauer. 

In his career, Mauer has not demonstrated the type of leadership that past players like Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek demonstrated when they led the Twins to two World Series championships in 1987 and 1991. Since his second year in the majors he has averaged only 130 games per season—sitting out almost 30. 

When Puckett, owner of a single batting title, reached the postseason his average did not plummet. A career .318 hitter, Puckett hit .309 in the playoffs and World Series. He rose to the occasion raising his slugging percentage in the playoffs by 59 points. Compare that to Mauer, a three-time batting champion, whose average drops 40 points and his slugging percentage 28 points.

With Mauer's return from his nine-week layoff, he needs to step up and prove he is ready to lead the Minnesota Twins—his activation off the 60-day DL displaced Brian Dinkelman from the Twins 40-man roster. There's no doubt he will automatically be inserted into the third spot in the batting order, he needs to show immediate improvement over his .235 average after playing in only nine games in April.

Mauer doesn't need to have the same type of numbers that earned him the AL MVP in 2009, he just needs to show he is durable and that the Twins can count on his bat in the lineup on a daily basis.

Based on how the Twins have been handling their $23 million baby, it may be some time by the end of next week, when the Twins play in San Francisco and Milwaukee without a designated hitter, before we see Mauer catch in back-to-back games.

Here's hoping that Mauer's return does not derail the Twins' recent winning ways.

Update Sunday June 19th: The Twins complete a sweep of the San Diego Padres. In three one-run games the Twins pushed their winning streak to seven games. In Sunday's game the Twins catcher delivers a one out single to score the winning run a—Mauer, nope. Mauer would go one for 11, the winning hit was delivered by Drew Butera. Following the series with the Padres, Mauer's average dropped to .200 on the season after catching the first two games and serving at the designated hitter in Sunday's game.