Through 19 games this season, Joe Mauer struck out 24 times. The big question is: Should we worry? There's a temptation to say "no" because this is a 19-game sample size for a player with a much longer track record of success. He was striking out at a one per game rate for the first third of last season before he started putting more balls in play, so there should be some adjustment coming.
But maybe we should be concerned. When he was fanning last year, he was still hitting for a high average with gap power. This year, he has only three extra-base hits. He just turned 31, and we can't forget that a concussion ended his 2013 season.
Popular guy Adrian Peterson is the most Googled athlete in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa, per a tweet from @espn.
good read Find an excerpted version of local author John Rosengren's new baseball book, "The Fight of Their Lives," at SI.com.
