Buxton's done. Stick a fork in him.

[Linus]

 

I am not a huge fan of rebuttals. But. Your first paragraph precludes an honest appraisal of your teams chances. Pretending is fine for the fans, it sells tickets. But if the team beliefs its own hype, their decision making, ie, being buyers instead of sellers in July becomes flawed and harmful. As for the power to tell the future, that could be called evaluation. And the belief that you will lose either way can be called realism. This doesn't mean you have to desire to lose, but it does mean you have to accept the fact that it will likely be the result of either course you chart. In that case, I would choose the opportunity to put together a long term competitive team vs a team that's claim to fame is having played meaningful games in late August!

Except for the fact they are 6 games over 500 as we approach July.  that is what we know for sure about this whole question.  When you are in a playoff chase, you pursue it, period.  Doesn't mean you become buyers but it sure as hell doesn't mean you don't put your best 9 out there to win today's game.

[lukeduke1980]

Can we ask the other teams AA pitchers to throw some breaking balls when he goes back down?  Seems like they've been just feeding him fastballs, you know, to get our hopes up

[dgwills]

Why is Buxton aways running around so fast. Act like you've been there before. You don't see Hunter doing that. Clearly he has no future in MLB.

[Boom Boom]

He was called up too early and now his confidence is crushed. He's ruined forever. I can see it in his eyes.

 

Good job, TR.

[John Kelsey]

I'm not ready to give up on this kid being a big league contributor this season after 22 at bats. 

[DaveW]

discuss.

Grow up.

[Curt]

Buxton is 2 for 22...

 

a few others who could have been "forked":

 

1951 Willie Mays started 10 for 50 with 2 homers.

1951 Mickey Mantle started 11 for 51 with 1 homer

2011 Mike Trout started 8 for 51 with 2 homers.

 

Mays started 1 for 26.

[Twodogs]

If the Twins send Buxton back down, will they send Hunter down with him also so that he can keep mentoring him??

 

That's a tricky one, unless they are planning in bringing back Hunter for another season how will Buxton get all of that Hunter knowledge?

 

 

Ha ha

 

 

I speak in jest, in case a few of you take this seriously, which seems to be the case sometimes.

[jimbo92107]

I'm pretty sure the Twins and Paul Molitor have a good idea how to handle Byron Buxton. Clearly the young man is immensely talented, but it's just as clear how raw that talent still is. Baseball is a game full of subtle factors, and Buxton has yet to master enough of them to look comfortable at the major league level.

 

On offense, Buxton doesn't yet do a good job of processing the overall situation, and the pitch-to-pitch adjustments of what he can expect to see. Pitchers know that, and are throwing him a rookie mix of crap. Basically they're pitching him backwards, throwing curves in fastball situations, and vice versa. Buxton doubtless has seen this tactic before, but minor league pitchers can't make it work the way the big boys can. They're getting ahead with curves, then throwing him junk out of the zone. Of course the coaches are telling Buxton how to counter that tactic, but it takes a while for verbal lessons to translate into live action.

 

On defense, Buxton runs like a deer, but also shows signs of immaturity, as when he launched a rocket throw from center to home instead of hitting the cutoff man, allowing a runner to advance to second. Impressive throw, kid. The opposition thanks you.

 

Buxton's signs of baseball immaturity may eventually get him sent back down to AAA finishing school, but eventually it will be worth the wait. There's no denying the talent. Meanwhile, even with all his rough edges, he sure is fun to watch. It's a different situation with Aaron Hicks, but the lesson is the same: At the professional level, baseball is a very difficult game to master completely.

 

To make it in the bigs, the last tool is between your ears.

[ashbury]

Dang! There are people writing as though this is supposed to be a serious discussion.  I guess if u don't read the daily game threads, you won't know the writers or get the joke. 

I'm not sure this thread has much to do with game threads. Chief was doing a takeoff on the "stick a fork in Hunter" meme, which was started as a regular thread.

 

As for my earlier comment, in case it was misconstrued as being simply impolite, it was based on the apparent notion of a boss-employee relationship. The working relationship among moderators and site ownership is both subtle and strong, and "boss" doesn't begin to cover it, particularly where the Chief is concerned.

 

There, I've managed to ruin two jokes by explaining them.

[howieramone2]

 

He was called up too early and now his confidence is crushed. He's ruined forever. I can see it in his eyes.

Good job, TR.

Target Field is going to become a parking lot.

[Craig Arko]

Target Field is going to become a parking lot.

[DJSim22]

So, does a single and a stolen base mean the thread was a success or a failure? 

[USAFChief]

So, does a single and a stolen base mean the thread was a success or a failure? 

Yes.

[spinowner]

 

So, does a single and a stolen base mean the thread was a success or a failure? 

No.

[Mike Sixel]

Just once it would be cool if they called up a guy and he was good. Right away, and the next year too.

[stringer bell]

I can be glad that I saw Buxton's first Target Field hit and saw him steal the first of what will be many stolen bases. Yep, the hit tool isn't fully developed and he will make mistakes. He will run down a lot of balls and I am sure he'll be a force on the bases. Buck needs to get on base and to do that he needs to make contact.

[70charger]

 

So, does a single and a stolen base mean the thread was a success or a failure? 

 

Maybe.

[tobi0040]

Here are my observations:

 

Buxton seems to struggle a bit out of the gate, if memory serves at most levels.  Then he adjusts and picks it up.  He certainly didn’t start red hot in AA this year.  His at bats the last 2-3 games have been much better. 

 

We have also in these seven games run through a pretty brutal schedule of pitchers.  Much better than he will average over the course of 160 games.  Outside of Kendricks when we scored 7 runs, here is the ERA of the starter and amount of runs the Twins scored in the other six games:

 

Arrietta, 3.07 ERA. Twins did not score.

Lester, 3.80 ERA. We scored one run.

Garcia, 1.78 ERA. We scored two runs

Wacha, 2.48 ERA. We scored two runs.

Martinez, 2.80 ERA, we scored three runs.

Lackey, 3.59 ERA.  We scored two runs.

 

That is a grand total of ten runs in six games.

[Craig Arko]

 

So, does a single and a stolen base mean the thread was a success or a failure? 

The Fuzzy Logic answer (truly the only applicable one) is that possibilities are infinite.

[sane]

"Discuss"

 

Discussted!

[tobi0040]

I agree with Thrylos Byron Buxton isn't ready for the major leagues right now offensively, he shows it ever time he stares at a curveball or breaking ball in the strike zone right now. Fastballs are wizzing by the Kid that are hittable too. He is being overly paitent(lacks agressiveness due to thinking a lot about what he is seeing instead of just letting his instincts take over) at the plate and letting a lot of 1st and 2nd pitches go by that he is capable of hitting. The dude needs more experience and to learn how to hit breaking balls more.

Even when Buxton was lighting up AA pitching he was seeing a lot of fastballs in hitters counts situations. I would try to get by with Rosario in centerfield and Robinson as a platoon until Hicks is ready to come back off the DL. Sometimes there is not success without a large degree of failure. Buxton has above average speed and a plus arm, and when he connects the ball rockets off his bat so there are obvious above average tools right now, what he needs is more seasoning at AA, possibly a stint in AAA even to learn to hit the junk. Right now he is just as much a giveaway out as Hicks was his first go around from AA. I see a lot of things I like about Buxton and see the kid has obvious talent, his lack of experience is hurting the guy right now.

I think we need two more weeks before we can conclude if Buxton needs to go down. Two weeks into this AA season, the sky was falling with regards to Buxton being a bust.

 

I think the only thing he needs to work on is recognizing major league breaking balls and he is not going to be able to do that in AA or AAA.

[DaveW]

Danks should be just what the doctor ordered for Buxton, I expect a 3 for 5 effort, 1 HR, 1 2B, 2 SB

[nicksaviking]

 

Danks should be just what the doctor ordered for Buxton, I expect a 3 for 5 effort, 1 HR, 1 2B, 2 SB

 

All I care about is the triples.

[D. Hocking]

 

So, does a single and a stolen base mean the thread was a success or a failure? 

 

Concur.

[LimestoneBaggy]

 

All I care about is the triples.

 

The only thread funnier than this "Stick a fork in Buxton" would be a "He only hits triples" meme (a la Chris Carter's only catching touchdowns."

 

Now, create me a meme thread so that I may sit back, lurk and laugh.....chop, chop 

[DuluthFan]

So does a one game performance make the 'stick a fork' thing a thing?

 

Because the Twins have a catcher...

And a few relief pitchers....

[Mike Sixel]

 

So does a one game performance make the 'stick a fork' thing a thing?

 

Because the Twins have a catcher...

And a few relief pitchers....

 

is there a fork strong enough to fix Suzuki? I don't know....

[tobi0040]

 

is there a fork strong enough to fix Suzuki? I don't know....

 

How was 3 for 5, 2B, 3 runs, and two outfield assists? 

 

When a guys average can go from .125 to .200 in one game, maybe the sample is too small to make conclusions?

[Mike Sixel]

 

How was 3 for 5, 2B, 3 runs, and two outfield assists? 

 

When a guys average can go from .125 to .200 in one game, maybe the sample is too small to make conclusions?

 

I have no idea what this post means.......even if we actually thought a thread like this had any effect, I have no idea what this post means.