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Mike Sixel

By Mike Sixel
in Minnesota Twins Talk

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Mike Sixel GOAT

Mike Sixel

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bear
1:19 How did you view Jorge Polanco as a prospect? How do you view him now?

 

Eric A Longenhagen
1:19 Preferred him at 2B where he'd have been a 45 due to a lack of power with a chance he hits enough to be an average every day guy at some point.
And basically the same right now.

Mike Sixel GOAT

Mike Sixel

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Big Tuna
2:39 Daniel Palka is off to a good start for MIN. Is he a legit power prospect?

 

Eric A Longenhagen
2:40 There is power there, yes. Lots of K's, too. I think he fits into more of a platoon role.

Mike Sixel GOAT

Mike Sixel

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from mlbtraderumors chat today:

 

Ken Tremendous
4:19 Byron Buxton is the biggest disappointment in baseball so far. True or false?

 

Steve Adams
4:21 For him to be the biggest disappointment you'd have to have been expecting him to maintain his enormous September surge last year, which never seemed likely. (He still K'ed at 33% or so even in that hot streak.)

He's had a poor start, but he's 23, was rushed to the Majors way faster than he should've been, and still has fewer than 500 MLB PAs. I can't fathom why Molitor decided to start him off hitting third this season -- I get wanting to show confidence in him, but that also seems like an inordinate amount of pressure to put on him. Batting order isn't something I typically care about, but that decision seemed bizarre.
4:22 At any rate, no I wouldn't call him the "biggest disappointment" in the league. After a week of games, I don't think it's fair to call anyone disappointing. It's one week.

Mike Sixel GOAT

Mike Sixel

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9:21
Q-Ball: After 3 more Ks today, what do you do with Byron Buxton? AAA assignment to build confidence? What?

 

9:21
Paul Swydan: In the meantime, I’ll tackle this one. The answer is you do nothing.
9:21
Paul Swydan: Maybe some extra BP or something, but a demotion solves nothing.

 

 

9:25
Zonk: Early division leaders include: BAL, LAA, MIN, ARI. Which of those do you believe in? Which is a mirage?

 

9:25
Paul Swydan: I don’t believe in any of them.
9:25
Jeff Zimmerman: Baltimore, that’s it.

Vanimal46 Cooperstown

Vanimal46

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I agree with Paul in regards to Buxton... A demotion to AAA won't solve this issue. He's got to find a way to hit out of this slump at the MLB level. 

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Brock Beauchamp

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I agree with Paul in regards to Buxton... A demotion to AAA won't solve this issue. He's got to find a way to hit out of this slump at the MLB level. 

Yep. Rowson should be spending an abundance of time with Buxton right now. Probably Hunter, too.

 

They need to find a way to convince Byron that consistency is key. If you use the leg kick, use the leg kick. If you want to toe tap, then toe tap. If you want to stand backwards at the plate, stand backwards at the plate.

 

But do it every time.

d-mac First Round Pick

d-mac

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I agree with Paul in regards to Buxton... A demotion to AAA won't solve this issue. He's got to find a way to hit out of this slump at the MLB level. 

 

It's tough to say this about someone his age, but I think it's a make or break year for Buxton. If he can't figure it out this year, he's likely destined to be nothing more than a 4th outfielder. 

diehardtwinsfan Minnesota Twins

diehardtwinsfan

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Yep. Rowson should be spending an abundance of time with Buxton right now. Probably Hunter, too.

 

They need to find a way to convince Byron that consistency is key. If you use the leg kick, use the leg kick. If you want to toe tap, then toe tap. If you want to stand backwards at the plate, stand backwards at the plate.

 

But do it every time.

 

that and convince him to swing a bit less....  lots of swings... constantly swinging.  I've got to think he's getting a lot of garbage right now.

Brock Beauchamp GOAT

Brock Beauchamp

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that and convince him to swing a bit less....  lots of swings... constantly swinging.  I've got to think he's getting a lot of garbage right now.

Byron did that a bit more yesterday, which I thought was promising. In his first plate appearance, he struck out on four pitches. Not good.

 

But in his second and third plate appearances, he laid off some pitches outside the zone and worked the count a bit, taking six pitches in each appearance.

 

The problem I saw yesterday is that pitchers are hammering the zone with Byron and he can't connect.

 

First:

first.jpg

 

Second:

second.jpg

 

Third:

third.jpg

 

If Buxton can continue to take 5+ pitches per plate appearance, he might be okay in the long run... even if that means getting caught looking for a third strike for awhile.

Vanimal46 Cooperstown

Vanimal46

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Jason
12:08 What is Byron Buxtons ceiling at this point? What is his floor?And what do you see him settling into 3/4 years from now?

 

Dave Cameron
12:08 His ceiling hasn't changed. He's still a high risk, high reward guy.
12:09 Keep in mind that Jackie Bradley Jr has a not-totally-different skillset and Boston was pretty close to giving up on him a few years ago.

Mike Sixel GOAT

Mike Sixel

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Jason
12:08 What is Byron Buxtons ceiling at this point? What is his floor?And what do you see him settling into 3/4 years from now?

 

Dave Cameron
12:08 His ceiling hasn't changed. He's still a high risk, high reward guy.
12:09 Keep in mind that Jackie Bradley Jr has a not-totally-different skillset and Boston was pretty close to giving up on him a few years ago.

 

ha, beat my to it, while I tried to figure out a polite way to ask about DanSan....which I am unable to do, so I'm not asking DC why, oh why...

Mike Sixel GOAT

Mike Sixel

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Erik
12:18 The Twins are doing well even with Buxton looking terrible. They were also an 83-win team just two years ago. Is it possible the projections were underrating them a bit, and they belong near the back of the very large AL wild card pack, rather than down near the White Sox?

 

Dave Cameron
12:19 Anything is possible, but there's no real reason to think the projections were underrating them based on going 5-2 in seven games. They have a 102 wRC+, so it's not like their offense has gone bananas in week one. The pitching is still bad.

Brock Beauchamp GOAT

Brock Beauchamp

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How many years was JBJ in the majors, and posted these kinds of numbers?

JBJ MiLB slash:

.294 .391 .460 .851

 

JBJ MLB slash over his first 550 PAs:

.196 .268 .280 .548

 

Look familiar? JBJ even entered MLB during his age 23 season if you want even more parity. Buxton got there a bit younger but both were quite young when they were promoted.

Mike Sixel GOAT

Mike Sixel

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YKnotDisco?!
12:24 If Buxton has peak years similar to B.J Upton, would people still view that as a disappointment? Were the expectations higher than that? B.J was pretty damn good early in his career.

 

Dave Cameron
12:24 The early-career Trout comparisons set insane expectations. If he can become an average hitter with elite D, that's a good player.

Vanimal46 Cooperstown

Vanimal46

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YKnotDisco?!
12:24 If Buxton has peak years similar to B.J Upton, would people still view that as a disappointment? Were the expectations higher than that? B.J was pretty damn good early in his career.

 

Dave Cameron
12:24 The early-career Trout comparisons set insane expectations. If he can become an average hitter with elite D, that's a good player.

 

Yep, the hype train was full speed ahead for both Buxton and Sano setting extraordinarily high expectations... 

Still remember the SI magazine cover from 3-4 years ago of Buxton and Sano saying the Twins had "The Next Trout and Bryce Harper" 

Mike Sixel GOAT

Mike Sixel

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A: I'm tired of "not everyone is Mike Trout" stuff. If he was never a top prospect, he'd be in the minors this year already, because no one hits this badly and plays in the majors. It's stupid to say "its not fair to compare him to Mike Trout", when he has a negative 59 wrc......

 

B: Ya, if he was a top 20 prospect that was one of two players his team was building around, he'd still get this attention.

Thrylos St Paul Saints

Thrylos

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Dunno how I never realized the JBJ comp was such a good one.

 

It's not.  JBJ was not an 1-2 pick, he was a supplemental first round pick.  Also he was never crowned the "best prospect in baseball" right before he made it to the majors.  He was #50.  Totally different pedestal and set of expectations for Buxton. 

 

Got to compare the expectations for Buxton with other #1 overall prospects and other top 2 drafted prospects.

Brock Beauchamp GOAT

Brock Beauchamp

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It's not. JBJ was not an 1-2 pick, he was a supplemental first round pick. Also he was never crowned the "best prospect in baseball" right before he made it to the majors. He was #50. Totally different pedestal and set of expectations for Buxton.

 

Got to compare the expectations for Buxton with other #1 overall prospects and other top 2 drafted prospects.

Their results are similar. I wasn't speaking of expectations.

 

And their numbers tracked through both the minors and majors are eerily similar.

drjim Cedar Rapids Kernels

drjim

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Plus the other difference, if Buxton does reach this level of offense, is he would bring a much better glove and presumably more value on the basepaths.

 

When I got (way too) optimistic about Buxton, I thought he should hit 120-130 wRC+ seasons with the bat. That is what JBJ is starting to reach.

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