Byron Buxton: a tale of two talents

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

We've all had our moments while watching Byron. Is he a bust? Will his talent transition to MLB? How has he been this bad?

 

Well, there might be a small light at the end of the tunnel. Here are Buxton's splits between his AAA stint this season:

 

Pre-demotion:

.156 / .208 / .289 / .497, 49 PAs, 2 BB, 24 SO, .333 BABIP

 

That's... Horrible. Just shy of striking out a full 50% of the time. Everything about that stat line makes you cringe.

 

Post-demotion:

.236 / .272 / .396 / .668, 115 PAs, 6 BB, 37 SO, .343 BABIP

 

Okay, still kinda bad... But the strikeouts have dropped from 50% to 32%. Still high but perfectly within reason for a 22 year old player with 300 career MLB plate appearances. His BABIP is steady so he's not getting lucky with balls dropping into the green parts of the field.

 

And oddly enough, Buxton's splits tell a story of struggling to figure out LHP:

 

LHP: .167 / .241 / .313 / .553

RHP: .233 / .259 / .388 / .648

 

Buxton had a similarly odd MiLB handed split in 2015 but lacked that split in other seasons (primarily 2013 and 2016, as I disregard his injury-plagued 2014 season entirely).

 

Is there something about lefties that confound Buxton or is this a SSS blip? Given how his MiLB track record is mixed, I'm not sure.

 

To open the season, I said I'd be happy if Buxton finished with a .700 OPS. I'd be satisfied if he reached .680.

 

Well, it's an uphill battle for him to get there but here are his two week splits:

 

.267 / .313 / .467 / .779

 

Now, no way in hell do I expected Byron to go down the stretch with a .780 OPS but... Are we finally seeing the emergence of that prodigious talent we've waited years to witness?

I personally feel that Buxton is the type of person both physically and mentally that does much better the more he does something and consistently. That is why I also personally felt that he should bat leadoff or second, but to also have his sit days scheduled against the best pitchers. I understand the batting him 9th due to his current production, but we should be focussed on the future and getting him more at bats I feel would help with that. It doesn't irk me that he's batting 9th, but think getting him one more at bat a game would help and the teams future. 

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

 None of his crashes into the wall have really looked like anything that should even cause bruises and yet he seems to be banged up on all of them.    It looked like he was slowing down as he approached and didn't hit very hard. 

 

 

Have you ever stubbed your toe, hit your"funny bone" on something, banged your shin on a ball hitch, or bumped your head on something you didn't notice? Hurts like he!! don't it! And how fast were you moving? A lot slower than a full speed run. My point is that it it looked like his knee hit directly on the fence, padded or not its still a solid object underneath, and that caused the bruise. 

It may or may not cost the game (remember the Twins were up 5-4 after Sano's HR...thanks Pressly), but he will miss a couple of games and be ready and rested after the All-Star break.

He is pretty lanky and doesn't have a lot of meat to buffer his body. Seems to me this frame leads to more problems. He could use a little more beef on him I feel, its not like he'd be slow then. I think he will be more of a guy who peak in his late 20's once he fills out.

[tobi0040]

The MRI was negative. Just a bone bruise. He rode a bike for 35 minutes yesterday and took some swings.

 

Apparently he could play today. I doubt he will but good news either way

 

http://m.startribune.com/twins-notes-thankfully-byron-buxton-has-only-bruised-knee/386161971/