Big Day for Buxton/Lead-off hitter

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Back to Buxton. Does anyone know if he had appreciable platoon splits in the minors? I suspect that he didn't, but slider off the outside corner seemed to trouble him a bit so far.

Not much of a split, no.

 

L/R splits:

2015: .885/.831

2013: .917/.876

[AlwaysinModeration]

This thread about Buxton batting lead off, like FIP and ERA, sucks.

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

John Danks is getting paid $15.75 million this year.

If I were a White Sox fan I would be furious.

 

Joe Mauer is getting paid $23m this year and each of the next 3.

As a Twins fan, I AM furious.

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

It really does. This is his fifth year as a starter and he's had two very good seasons (120, 125 ERA+). He had one good season (107 ERA+). He had one kinda bad season (89 ERA+) and this season is pretty bad (82 ERA+).

 

When he's on, he's quite good. When he's not, he's nothing remarkable. The good Samardzija and the bad Samardzija seem to weigh in about equally.

 

He's a more inconsistent version of, say, Matt Garza. I'd rather have Garza in his prime because you don't know if you're getting Good Jeff or Bad Jeff in any given season.

 

Doesn't this apply to just about every pitcher in the Major Leagues?

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

By definition a #3 starter is average.  So saying a guy is a great average starter sounds like an oxymoron to me.

 

It is if we're lining every pitcher in the majors up, and saying the 61st through 90th best pitchers are "#3's".  However, when you can have multiple pitchers that are top 30 or top 60 in the league, your #3 pitcher could well be a great #3.

 

For example, last year, either Verlander or Sanchez was the Tigers' #3 pitcher, whereas the Twins' was either Ricky Nolasco or Kevin Correia.  Clearly, Detroit's #3 was far superior to our #3.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Doesn't this apply to just about every pitcher in the Major Leagues?

Uh, sure. That's why I qualified the statement in the next sentence.

[Mike Sixel]

Buxton.

[DaveW]

Why would you bump Buxton back down to the 9 hole after his first very good game in the majors?

 

To be fair to to Molly I mean, 12 runs in their past 8 games with the previous lineup was sooooo successful, it's hard not to fall in love with getting a young stud like Buxton less at bats then such mashers as Kurt Suzuki, Eduardo Escobar, Chris Hermann and Nunez.

[jokin]

 

Buxton.

 

Who?

[twinsnorth49]

I tried looking it up but I can't find Buxton's FIP, XFIP, ERA or ERA+ stats anywhere.

 

Weird.

[big dog]

So Buxton fails as a ninth-place hitter, and he has one successful day as a leadoff hitter.

Two plausible interpretations:

 

1.  Molitor knew he would succeed against Danks and put him in the right spot, and he also knows he isn't going to do so well against others so he batted him lower.

 

2.  Buxton hits better when he leads off, no matter who pitches.

 

I'm going to go with interpretation 1, as a matter of belief, but I'm ready to see Buxton at the top for a few games just to give us more than one data point to discuss.  As mentioned above, given our miserable offense lately, what harm can it really do?  I don't think Buxton failing at leadoff is going to wreck his confidence any more than him doing poorly in the ninth spot (though he did manage to get one hit last night batting last).

 

[HitInAPinch]

 

Buxton.

 

I've read a little something on him.  Someone should really start a discussion on him.

[Vanimal46]

Yeah.... how about we put Buxton back where he belongs at the leadoff spot.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

So Buxton fails as a ninth-place hitter, and he has one successful day as a leadoff hitter.

Two plausible interpretations:

 

1.  Molitor knew he would succeed against Danks and put him in the right spot, and he also knows he isn't going to do so well against others so he batted him lower.

 

2.  Buxton hits better when he leads off, no matter who pitches.

 

I'm going to go with interpretation 1, as a matter of belief, but I'm ready to see Buxton at the top for a few games just to give us more than one data point to discuss.  As mentioned above, given our miserable offense lately, what harm can it really do?  I don't think Buxton failing at leadoff is going to wreck his confidence any more than him doing poorly in the ninth spot (though he did manage to get one hit last night batting last).

Pretty much all of this. I think Molitor had a strong suspicion that Byron would be able to hit a bad lefty like Danks, not so much a decent righty like Samardzija.

 

But, as you said, there's little to lose by moving him up the order. Most of the lineup isn't hitting and the ones who are aren't hitting that well. A shake-up is in order. Whether that involves moving Buxton to leadoff or the five spot, I don't know nor do I really care. He should start sliding up the lineup in some capacity.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Yeah.... how about we put Buxton back where he belongs at the leadoff spot.

 

Of this thread or the lineup?

[Willihammer]

Does anyone think if Brian Dozier dropped to 9 he'd OPS under .600? Byron Buxton is the worst batter on the team until he proves otherwise. Let him bat his way up the lineup.

[USAFChief]

Does anyone think if Brian Dozier dropped to 9 he'd OPS under .600? Byron Buxton is the worst batter on the team until he proves otherwise. Let him bat his way up the lineup.

Concur. .257 OBP. .560 OPS.

 

It's only a handful of ABs, and we all hope it gets better. I get that, but Lets wait till it actually does before giving him the most PAs on the team.

[John Kelsey]

Watching Buxton get fewer PAs than Kurt Suzuki makes me very uneasy. 

[DaveW]

 

 Byron Buxton is the worst batter on the team until he proves otherwise. Let him bat his way up the lineup.

Kurt Suzuki, Shane Robinson, Chris Hermann, Eduardo Escobar would all like a  word with you.

[DaveW]

Buxton is back in the leadoff spot today, against Sale who is a LHP. I wonder if this is Mollys short term plan? I'm not sure I like switching him between 1st and 9th in the order every other day though.

[Mike Sixel]

IMO, he should be batting leadoff....

 

Like Sale is easy to hit off of? I mean, he might be the best pitcher in the majors........LH or not.

[DaveW]

 

IMO, he should be batting leadoff....

 

Like Sale is easy to hit off of? I mean, he might be the best pitcher in the majors........LH or not.

I would take Archer, Scherzer, King Felix, Kershaw over him at this point.

[Mike Sixel]

So, he's number 5......and somehow it's a good idea to think Buxton should leadoff, when clearly the manager is trying to protect him?

 

That was the point.....I don't feel like arguing over the order of the top 5 MLB pitchers.

[DaveW]

If I send up a right-handed batter it's called playing the percentages.
It's what smart managers do to win ball games.

http://advanced-television.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/simpsons2.jpg

[diehardtwinsfan]

I don't see the point in getting worked up over his spot in the order.  If he cannot succeed as a 9 hitter, he isn't going to succeed being a leadoff hitter.  His approach should in no way change based on these spots in the order.  His job is to get on base and then steal them.  He was called up a bit earlier than I thought he would be (as I didn't think he was ready), but with no one blocking him, this made a ton of sense.

 

As for Molly, I suspect he recognizes that Buxton will have an easier time with lefties over righties so he's putting him in a position to succeed.  That's fine.  Buxton will be a good player, we just need to be patient.