Joe Mauer's streak of 28 consecutive games reaching base may have ended a few days ago, but the Baltimore Orioles still have plenty of reasons to fear the Minnesota Twins first baseman when they visit Target Field on Monday.
It's more like 46 reasons.
Mauer has 46 hits all-time against the Orioles in 117 at-bats, the second-highest average against a single team of any player in Twins history.
His .393 mark against Baltimore is eclipsed only by Hall of Famer Rod Carew's dominant .427 average against the New York Yankees.
Highest Home BA vs. Opponent, Minnesota Twins since 1961
*Minimum 100 at-bats.
| Player | Opponent | Average |
| Rod Carew | Yankees | .427 |
| Joe Mauer | Orioles | .393 |
| Kirby Puckett | Red Sox | .390 |
| Chuck Knoblauch | Athletics | .381 |
| Dan Gladden | Tigers | .380 |
And while Mauer's streak has been getting plenty of attention, third baseman Eduardo Nunez still leads the Twins with a .372 average through 85 plate appearances, and he's doing a significant amount of that damage on ground balls.
Nunez has reached base on 15 ground balls this year in 30 chances, tying Detroit Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos for the American League lead.
Highest BA on Ground Balls, 2016 American League
*Minimun 20 plate appearences.
| Player | Team | Average |
| Eduardo Nunez | Twins | .500 |
| Nick Castellanos | Tigers | .500 |
| Jed Lowrie | A's | .422 |
| Francisco Lindor | Indians | .400 |
| Tyler Laquin | Indians | .400 |
Nunez has has an average of just .063 (1-for-16) this season when hitting a fly ball or pop up.
Star pitching prospect Jose Berrios is set to make his third career start on Monday, and he's already bringing an influx of velocity to the Twins' starting rotation.
Recently-demoted prosepct Alex Meyer's 95.3 mph fastball is almost 5 mph faster than the rest of the rotation's average, while Berrios clocks in at an average of 93.2 mph.
Average Fastball Velocity, Twins Starting Pitchers in 2016
| Player | Average velocity |
| Alex Meyer | 95.3 mph |
| Jose Berrios | 93.2 mph |
| Other starters | 90.4 mph |
Statistics courtesy of STATS, inc.
