Buxton

[Ncgo4]

Our boy, Buck maybe a little motivated after being demoted. Just homered again in1st inning! Now batting .340! Go Buck!!

[nytwinsfan]

Jeebus, he's really on a tear. By the way, his OPS at AAA this year is now 1.010 and 1.158 in May.

[Lonestar]

His BABIP in May to date is .389.  BB% is 9.45% in May.   Everything else is great.   K% is down to 17.6%. 

 

fixed BB%

[rghrbek]

The question is, how long do you keep him down there?   People were so put off by his strikeouts, that they have suggested to wait until after the all star break, or even until next year.   I didn't think it was the end of the world to send him down, but I would have been fine with him staying up here, considering the Twins were already out of the running.

 

If he continues this torrid pace, then I would bring him up sooner than later.  Give him 2 more weeks and bring him up.    

[nytwinsfan]

 

His BABIP in May to date is .389.  BB% is 7.31% in May.   Everything else is great.   K% is down to 17.6%. 

.389 is probably a little high, even for him, but with his speed a high BABIP is clearly to be expected.

[amjgt]

Buxton's standard "struggle for a month or so at a level, then destroy the ball"

 

I've heard good arguments on both sides of when to bring him up (from "now" to "2017")... I'm in the "in a few weeks camp" as long as it is understood that he's playing EVERY FREAKING DAY. He's proven he needs to struggle a little at each level. Let him struggle. Every level he's come out of that struggle killing the ball.

[Dantes929]

I would have been ok with him staying up also as long as he was learning and wasn't losing confidence.   I would probably leave him there for a little bit but I am not going to criticize one way or the other.    The Twins handling of him may have been bad or it may have been the best thing that could have happened for him.    No way to tell.    

What I would do for sure is time it so his first three games are against the 3, 4, and 5  guys, preferably on a weak team.    At least give him the best shot of getting off to a running start.  I hate when guys are brought up to immediately face aces.  What kind of transition is that?   

[nytwinsfan]

Berrios on the other hand . . . struggling for real.

[mazeville]

For those of you who worry about Buxton's K rate ... Mike Trout had about a 20 percent K rate in AA and AAA before he was called up (he had 16 strikeouts in 92 plate appearances in AAA before being called up, a 17.4% k rate).

 

Not saying Buxton will be Trout. But the fact is, he's going to strike out a LOT in the first couple of years in the majors before he cleans that up. You just have to get used to it and let him be him.

[alarp33]

 

Buxton's standard "struggle for a month or so at a level, then destroy the ball"

 

I've heard good arguments on both sides of when to bring him up (from "now" to "2017")... I'm in the "in a few weeks camp" as long as it is understood that he's playing EVERY FREAKING DAY. He's proven he needs to struggle a little at each level. Let him struggle. Every level he's come out of that struggle killing the ball.

 

This. Whenever he is up he better damn well be in the lineup every day for the rest of the season.  No more of the 3 days on, 1 day off crap that they gave him in early April.  

 

I would lean 2-3 weeks.  And when he came up I would expect some growing pains... but ride it out. He's going to be a star

[mattkummer]

It doesn't look like his defense is doing him any favors. 3 errors already, 2 unearned runs.

No strikeouts-- but no walks either. Looks like he's throwing about 60% strikes from the box score.

 

Berrios on the other hand . . . struggling for real.

 

[amjgt]

 

  

What I would do for sure is time it so his first three games are against the 3, 4, and 5  guys, preferably on a weak team.    At least give him the best shot of getting off to a running start.  I hate when guys are brought up to immediately face aces.  What kind of transition is that?   

 

Tue, Jun 7
vs

Miami
8:10 PM  Dean (0-1) Conley (3-3)

 

Wed, Jun 8
vs

Miami
8:10 PM  Hughes (1-7) Chen (3-2) 

 

Thu, Jun 9
vs

Miami
8:10 PM  Nolasco (1-3) Koehler (2-5)

 

 

It doesn't get more perfect than that.

[JaleelWhite FanClub]

I hope we don't see him until Friday, July 1st vs. Texas. That gives him one more month of AAA reps and a chance to hone everything. It'd be kinda fitting given he made his debit against the Rangers last year.

[Mike Sixel]

I want him up no later than July. IMO, he needs to face real MLB pitchers this year so they can see if they need a stop gap next year or not. Waiting until the fall, when teams have AAA pitchers up, imo, is a bad idea.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

For those of you who worry about Buxton's K rate ... Mike Trout had about a 20 percent K rate in AA and AAA before he was called up (he had 16 strikeouts in 92 plate appearances in AAA before being called up, a 17.4% k rate).

 

Not saying Buxton will be Trout. But the fact is, he's going to strike out a LOT in the first couple of years in the majors before he cleans that up. You just have to get used to it and let him be him.

Nobody is worried about Buxton's minor league K rate.  We were worried about why his MLB K rate was so absurdly high and rising, and after that, whether we could trust his future minor league K rates.  Trout's debut MLB K rate was 22.2%, perfectly in line with his minor league marks at the time.

[JaleelWhite FanClub]

 

I hope we don't see him until Friday, July 1st vs. Texas. That gives him one more month of AAA reps and a chance to hone everything. It'd be kinda fitting given he made his debit against the Rangers last year.

 

Changed my mind. He should be back up two weeks later. July 15th at home vs. Cleveland.

 

1. It avoids the All Star break and the risk of interrupting any rhythm he may get going.

2. It's at home and could help generate some added excitement for the second half of this miserable season.

3. Maybe you can also promote some fellow Red Wings (Berrios, Meyer, Chargois, Polanco, Vargas, Walker even) at the same time and really turn over the roster to the future.

4. I have no idea how, but the Twins own Cleveland this year!!!. Kinda but not really and I'll take it.

[HitInAPinch]

Title:  Still waiting for Buxton to be healthy for a full season. 

      [ just because I got long winded  :-)  ]

 

Not buying the "struggle for a month or so at a level" narrative because he has 187 PA's and a .195 BA and .555 OPS, among other unattractive things, in 63 MLB games.  Buxton was given a chance in 2015 and failed.  If I remember correctly, another set of injuries were a factor.  Hicks was moved, so CF was cleared for him.  Clearly over matched, again.

 

Really, really don't understand the constant attempts to compare Buxton to Trout. 

 

Just now reading this:  "What I would do for sure is time it so his first three games are against the 3, 4, and 5  guys, preferably on a weak team."  Seriously?  If the players name was anything other than Byron Buxton, would you promote this player?

 

Having said that, Buxton's numbers are pretty incredible right now.  And I'm not slicing and dicing stats.  Full season.  But still, he was just injured [back spasms] again.  I'd rather he finish out the season healthy and bring him up for a good look when rosters expand.

[gunnarthor]

I think we should leave Buxton down for another month or so.  I'm not worried about his krate or walk rate having to meet certain numbers.  Right now, if a guy is hitting .400 against AAA pitching (last year) or has a babip around .390 (this year) he's not going to walk much.  Let him stay down a bit longer to see how AAA pitchers adjust to him.  It's more about taking good at-bats at this point.

[Eephus]

I think Ryan said on the radio a couple weeks ago that Buxton is more or less going to have to destroy AAA for a couple months in order to come back up. He's probably in the destroying mode recently, but I'm guessing he's going to have to pretty much keep it up for all of June. That's fine with me.

[Eephus]

Maybe a better comparison than Trout is Torii Hunter. That last trip down to AAA for Hunter produced an OPS of 1.130 over 55 games. 

[alarp33]

 

Changed my mind. He should be back up two weeks later. July 15th at home vs. Cleveland.

 

1. It avoids the All Star break and the risk of interrupting any rhythm he may get going.

 

 

Just an FYI, AAA has an All Star Break as well

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Buxton's standard "struggle for a month or so at a level, then destroy the ball"

I've heard good arguments on both sides of when to bring him up (from "now" to "2017")... I'm in the "in a few weeks camp" as long as it is understood that he's playing EVERY FREAKING DAY. He's proven he needs to struggle a little at each level. Let him struggle. Every level he's come out of that struggle killing the ball.

Standard?  This is a narrative that should probably be retired.

 

Buxton's debut month at Cedar Rapids?  1.194 OPS.  Buxton's debut month at Rochester last August?  .986 OPS.

 

He's scuffled for a few weeks at some levels, and hasn't at others.  It's hardly a trend, much less a statistically significant one.

 

The bigger reason for letting him stay at AAA awhile longer is his epic struggles in MLB that were only getting worse.  That's a sign of someone who wasn't really committed to or comfortable with what he was doing at the plate, and probably hasn't been "fixed" in a month.  But that has very little to do with the timing of any of his minor league slumps (rather modest ones, compared to his MLB line this year).

[markos]

I'm disappointed that Rochester missed Indianapolis's two best pitchers this week: Jameson Tallion and Tyler Glasnow. Both are among the best prospects in baseball. He also missed out facing Blake Snell (another top prospect) when they played Durham last week (Buxton was injured). It would have been nice to see Buxton match up against them.

[Shaitan]

If previous up-and-down players are an indication, the second time demoted tends to be longer and require more consistency before promotion. I'm thinking of Dozier, specifically, and others that I've forgotten.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Maybe a better comparison than Trout is Torii Hunter. That last trip down to AAA for Hunter produced an OPS of 1.130 over 55 games. 

Maybe, but that trip for Hunter was almost solely about adding power to his game.  He was actually pretty close to a finished product in terms of K% and BB% at the MLB level by that point, but he had yet to hit for much power as a pro (which also probably manifested itself in a slightly low BABIP, as he wasn't hitting the ball with authority).  Hunter turned 25 during that last AAA trip, and those numbers were compiled in the PCL too -- more important than the raw OPS was probably the power, 18 HR in 55 games.

 

Buxton hasn't really had any problem hitting for decent power as pro, or posting great BABIPs and overall batting lines.  His problem seems to purely be that transition to MLB and just laying the foundation of his approach, as evidenced by his MLB K% and BB% marks.

[amjgt]

 

I'm disappointed that Rochester missed Indianapolis's two best pitchers this week: Jameson Tallion and Tyler Glasnow. Both are among the best prospects in baseball. He also missed out facing Blake Snell (another top prospect) when they played Durham last week (Buxton was injured). It would have been nice to see Buxton match up against them.

 

This Chad Kuhl guy doesn't look too shabby. Had an ERA under 1.00, over 8 starts, coming into this game. (age: 23)

 

Buxton mixed in a triple for good measure later in the game, by the way (not off of Kuhl)

 

 

[amjgt]

 

If previous up-and-down players are an indication, the second time demoted tends to be longer and require more consistency before promotion. I'm thinking of Dozier, specifically, and others that I've forgotten.

 

Vargas

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

If previous up-and-down players are an indication, the second time demoted tends to be longer and require more consistency before promotion. I'm thinking of Dozier, specifically, and others that I've forgotten.

Actually, Dozier only had one demotion, for 20 games at the end of his rookie year.  He was back as the opening day second baseman the very next spring.

[lukeduke1980]

 

I think Ryan said on the radio a couple weeks ago that Buxton is more or less going to have to destroy AAA for a couple months in order to come back up. He's probably in the destroying mode recently, but I'm guessing he's going to have to pretty much keep it up for all of June. That's fine with me.

In Costanza-like logic, wouldn't the opposite of TR's instincts have to be in fact the right answer, therefore, bring him up now?

[bluechipper]

Bring him up within the next few weeks. Waiting until August/September puts the Twins in the same unsure state of whether or not Buxton can be counted on to be the opening day starter in 2017.