Sunday Insider: The perils of blocking the plate

Imagine for a moment that one of the really large or really aggressive players in the game -- Adam Dunn, Kevin Youkilis or even Torii Hunter -- is rounding third at full speed and is reaching inside for more momentum because he senses a collision at home plate.

The catcher at the plate is Joe Mauer, and a collision is probable.

What would you want Mauer to do? Risk injury by blocking the plate and taking someone's best shot? Or avoid contact and try to tag the runner as he goes by?

It's a question that has come up after the gruesome injury to Cleveland catching prodigy Carlos Santana on Monday.

Santana was trying to block the plate as Boston's Ryan Kalish slid into him, bending his left knee in a way it wasn't made to bend. Santana hyperextended his knee and suffered a high-grade strain of the lateral collateral ligament.

Santana should be ready for spring training after surgery. While he one day might play some at first, Cleveland has no plans to move him from behind the plate.

"Every catcher goes through an injury here and there," Indians manager Manny Acta told local scribes. "If that was the case, Joe Mauer wouldn't be catching in Minnesota."

In order for them to stay on the field, should they shy away from contact?

ESPN's Buster Olney threw out the idea last week, reporting that some executives in the league are thinking about that very thing.

Indications are that the Twins will not have Mauer change his approach.

"How long have we been playing baseball?" Twins manager Ron Gardenhire asked. "I don't think anyone if going to tell a catcher not to block home plate."

Both Gardenhire and Mauer mentioned that Santana might have avoided injury had he used better technique. If Santana would have pointed his left foot up the third base line -- toward the runner -- his lower leg would have been kicked under him and not sideways.

There's also the old approach of showing the runner the plate and then taking it away at the last second. The runner stops thinking about running over the catcher and slides -- just as the catcher slides his leg in front of home plate and lets the runner crash into his shin guard.

So there are ways to avoid serious injuries during home plate collisions, and one of the reasons Mauer is considered one of the best in the game is that he's technically sound.