"I've always been a guy that's seen a lot of pitches," Mauer said. "For me over the years, it's been a little bit more of a comfort to gauge the timing and also see the ball, how it's moving, where it's coming out, at what arm slot."
Now, Mauer is as selective as he has ever been. He has swung at just 16.3 percent outside the strike zone this season, the third fewest among 156 hitters to see at least 300 such pitches, behind only Joey Votto and Matt Carpenter. It's his lowest chase rate in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).