What It Means:

Mauer mentioned his blurred vision is sometimes triggered by bright sunshine, which he added, has negatively affected his ability to track pitches. He'll use spring training to experiment with sunglasses, which hopefully help this issue. Mauer explained this further saying, "I’ve always been kind of weird about my routine when it comes to stepping into the (batter’s) box, but it’s something I’ll give a shot this spring and see if it helps." Mauer's issues with his concussion forced a move to first base, and it looks like it has affected his production at the plate, as well. He's slashed .270/.348/.376 over the last two seasons, a far cry from his career line of .323/.405/.468 entering the 2014 season.

Mauer posted a .311 wOBA in 158 games in 2015, which was the lowest total of his career. He was able to maintain a double-digit walk percentage (10.1 percent), but it didn't help his production elsewhere. His Wins Above Replacement of just 0.3 was also a career worst. Our metrics did not like his performance in 2015, either, as his -0.23 nERD ranked 255th.