Fangraphs: byron-buxton-is-slowing-down-in-the-good-way

[Mike Sixel]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/byron-buxton-is-slowing-down-in-the-good-way/

 

A full article on Buxton. Travis has been a great addition to Fangraphs.

[Mike Sixel]

This is really good. Lots of quotes from Rowson, Buxton, Molitor. 

 

Enjoy!

[Mike Sixel]

Follow up in the chat today:

 

Hannah Hochevar
12:16 Like the Buxton piece. Seems like you can't do much better for longevity hitting advice than Molitor and Hunter.
Travis Sawchik
12:17 Thanks, Hannah. Yeah, I think Buxton is surrounded by some good advisors. I think in the past he was listening to too many voices. But hopefully his May is indicative or a truly improved - and more relaxed - approach
Did anyone catch his overall play in CF this weekend? He was incredible

Kyle Boddy
@drivelinebases
Byron Buxton completing your everyday, typical F8.
Play
about 21 hours ago
He seemingly did that every other inning
12:18 He already has a +5 DRS and 24.4 UZR/150 rating
As good a CF as I remember seeing in a three-game stretch

[gunnarthor]

Thanks for posting. It does seem like Rowson, our new hitting coach, might be better for him than Bruno was. 

[Vanimal46]

In the wayyy too early gold glove race, I think Buxton wins it over Kiermaier right now. Especially when Kiermaier made a couple of bone headed plays already that resulted in inside the park home runs. 

[ashbury]

In a different thread, I disputed DaveW's assertion that Buxton was guilty of overthinking, but this article lays it out pretty plainly in Buxton's own words that he has been. Props to Dave.

[Oxtung]

He has certainly made some progress in the last week or so but he still has a K% > 35% and has no walks in May.  Until he starts walking at a 15% clip, improves his K-rate to ~25% or some combination of the two he will still be a liability with the bat.  In addition we saw this "improvement" last year and it didn't seem to stick.

 

I guess what I'm saying is this is a very SSS and we need more time to see what the real outcome will be. 

[TheLeviathan]

It's hard not to read this and appreciate Molitor's approach here as well.

[Mike Sixel]

 

It's hard not to read this and appreciate Molitor's approach here as well.

 

Agreed. Lots of good words from him there that make  you feel a lot better about him as a leader. So much of what a manager does is not visible to us (like in game decisions are).

[BK432]

Great, great article. And it tells us what we've been seeing is very much true. Contact still needs to improve but he's seeing his pitches so much better. Success will come.

[akmanak]

I am sorry, I dont see it. Buxton's bat hasnt really turned around much. His fielding is great and I get that, but he is an out 83% of them time.

 

How long do we give him a chance to show he simply cant hit major league pitching or come to the realization that the Twins orginization simply cant teach the younger players how to bat.

 

We have failed with a number of young players and I am not sure what the answer is, but I would rather have a CF hit .280 then have a player make a great catch every other game.

 

This is just a ramble.

[Sssuperdave]

Saying he's an out 83

 

I am sorry, I dont see it. Buxton's bat hasnt really turned around much. His fielding is great and I get that, but he is an out 83% of them time.

How long do we give him a chance to show he simply cant hit major league pitching or come to the realization that the Twins orginization simply cant teach the younger players how to bat.

We have failed with a number of young players and I am not sure what the answer is, but I would rather have a CF hit .280 then have a player make a great catch every other game.

This is just a ramble.

 

But he's not an out 83% of the time any more.  From April 3rd through April 20th he was an out 92% (!!!!!!) of the time, and since April 21st he's only been an out 74% of the time.  That's a huge difference.

 

Slash line from 4/3 - 4/20: .082/.135/.122/.257

Slash line from 4/21 - 5/14: .265/.357/.388/.745

 

While that second slash line isn't exactly all-star material, when you couple it with his elite defense he is already a meaningful contributor.

[akmanak]

You can bend the stats all you want, in the last 10 games the guy is batting .210 which shows little improvement.

 

Since the Twins have failed so miserably with previous players when it comes to their batting, I just do not believe he will ever hit above .240 for this team.

[Mike Sixel]

 

You can bend the stats all you want, in the last 10 games the guy is batting .210 which shows little improvement.

Since the Twins have failed so miserably with previous players when it comes to their batting, I just do not believe he will ever hit above .240 for this team.

 

.210 isn't significantly better than .082?*

 

*note, hard to say which numbers I should quote, but that seems like a pretty big difference to me.

[Taildragger8791]

 

.210 isn't significantly better than .082?*

 

*note, hard to say which numbers I should quote, but that seems like a pretty big difference to me.

 

I think he's suggesting it's not that different than his career line of .211, which would be correct.

 

I do see the progress with Buxton and think he's slowly figuring it out, but it's going to come in fits and spurts before the light bulb fully comes on and he finds some consistency.

[Mike Sixel]

 

I think he's suggesting it's not that different than his career line of .211, which would be correct.

 

I do see the progress with Buxton and think he's slowly figuring it out, but it's going to come in fits and spurts before the light bulb fully comes on and he finds some consistency.

 

Ah, got it. That's fair.

 

I have no idea if Buxton can hit, so far. I hope he does, though.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

How long do we give him a chance to show he simply cant hit major league pitching or come to the realization that the Twins orginization simply cant teach the younger players how to bat.

I look up and down this lineup and I see lots of 25-and-under players, all of which are doing their job at the plate. The lone exception is Buxton, who still appears to be adjusting.

 

So, no, I don't see how the Twins are failing to teach their young hitters. Most of their young hitters look pretty good.

[akmanak]

I look up and down this lineup and I see lots of 25-and-under players, all of which are doing their job at the plate. The lone exception is Buxton, who still appears to be adjusting.

 

So, no, I don't see how the Twins are failing to teach their young hitters. Most of their young hitters look pretty good.

 

We have ranked 20th or lower the last 2 years in baseball when it comes to batting average. I dont see a huge improvement when it comes to the younger players.

[gunnarthor]

 

We have ranked 20th or lower the last 2 years in baseball when it comes to batting average. I dont see a huge improvement when it comes to the younger players.

I think part of the problem is you're using batting average to suggest our young hitters aren't doing well at the plate.

[akmanak]

I think part of the problem is you're using batting average to suggest our young hitters aren't doing well at the plate.

If you look at walks,strikeouts, ect. You find that we were average to below average in a lot of the catagories involving batting. Again you can also find stats that are encouraging when it comes to team batting, but IMO this team seems to fail at producing young talent who can bat.

 

Again there are exceptions.

[jimbo92107]

At least Rowson noticed that Buxton wasn't striding forward. Did you know that the follow through with your feet should look a lot like a pitcher's follow through with his feet? That is, your rear foot must carry through, just as a pitcher's foot must come off the rubber. Otherwise, you cannot generate the kind of power we see from hitters like Bryce Harper, whose back knee winds up behind his front knee. That's how you know Harper is driving off his back foot. That's why the ball goes so far. You have to generate movement into the pitch. You can't just twist your body and keep your feet planted. 

[Mike Sixel]

KLAW just ranked Buxton the 8th best player under 25 in the majors based on his super high floor, and if he can hit the even higher ceiling. 

[akmanak]

KLAW just ranked Buxton the 8th best player under 25 in the majors based on his super high floor, and if he can hit the even higher ceiling.

 

What am I missing with this guy? He cant hit, he can't layoff off the outside pitch,and he has no patience at the plate.

 

I have no problem admitting when I am wrong, but how long do you actually wait on this guy before you realize that he cant get it together.

 

He has shown glimpses of being able to bat, but it is only 17% of the time.

[Mike Sixel]

 

What am I missing with this guy? He cant hit, he can't layoff off the outside pitch,and he has no patience at the plate.

I have no problem admitting when I am wrong, but how long do you actually wait on this guy before you realize that he cant get it together.

He has shown glimpses of being able to bat, but it is only 17% of the time.

 

years of HS and minor league success that indicate what he's done in the majors may not be who he will be when he's older than 22, I'd guess.

 

Elite CF defense also.

[DaveW]

In a different thread, I disputed DaveW's assertion that Buxton was guilty of overthinking, but this article lays it out pretty plainly in Buxton's own words that he has been. Props to Dave.

His body language and constant small tinkering/frustration reminded me of a guy I played with in a wood bat league a few years ago. Talented no doubt, but went on a cold streak the likes of which I have never seen.

 

45 PA

2 walks

0 hits

About 35-38 strike outs

 

Towards the end he would spend an entire hour car drive to the fields talking about how he "figured out what he was doing wrong" like the most minute crap ever (elbow wrong angle, etc etc) he bought Ted Williams books and a few more to "diagnose" the probelm. Finally our "coach" who's pregame conditioning before pitching typically involved about a dozen beers until 4am the night before a game basically told him to STFU and just work on making contact.

 

It took a few more games but it finally paid off.

 

Some people when they struggle tend to think too much, and really the solution there is take it back to the basics: see ball, hit ball. Once you can do that again, then you can start tweaking things again.

[DaveW]

Crappy game for the Twins tonight, but silver lining: Buxton hit a bomb.

[HitInAPinch]

 

Crappy game for the Twins tonight, but silver lining: Buxton hit a bomb.

So, Buxton is great again, right?     

 

I really like this kid.  I think it's just a matter of time before he puts it all together.  DAMN THE STATS!!

 

[DaveW]

So, Buxton is great again, right?

 

I really like this kid. I think it's just a matter of time before he puts it all together. DAMN THE STATS!!

I was never that worried about him. But it's nice to see him turn it around in May rather than July or August.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I was never that worried about him. But it's nice to see him turn it around in May rather than July or August.

Well, this is what I hope to see from Buxton. He's going to have his cold streaks as pitchers adjust to his adjustments. He's been striking out too much again over the past week so seeing him go 1-3 with a homer, sacrifice, and strikeout is something of a good sign.

 

What's going to kill Buxton is his 0-for-15 with eight strikeout stretches. If he can turn those cold streaks into 2-for-15 with one XBH and six strikeouts, that will go a long way toward making him a competent hitter.

[Mike Sixel]

Sacrifice bunts in inning 2 suck. Suck. Really suck. Was he really sacrificing?