Byron Buxton Making One Dimensional Work

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Minnesota Twins lineup has used a rotating designated hitter in recent seasons. That is a great thing from a roster flexibility standpoint, but some players are better equipped to handle it than others. For Byron Buxton, it appears to be working.

 

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

There is no denying that the Minnesota Twins, Rocco Baldelli, and Byron Buxton would all prefer him to play in centerfield for 162 games during a given season. Over the course of his career we have seen that possibility is remote at best. For the first time, the organization prioritized his backup and went with a different strategy.

With Michael A. Taylor acquired this offseason, the Twins essentially brought in a clone of Buxton defensively. He is equally capable as a Gold Glove defender, and has both speed and arm strength as additional strengths. He is not much of a hitter by any means, but the organization has essentially treated the defensive position as a defense only, catcher-like, role.

What that has allowed is for Buxton to settle in as the regular designated hitter. Baldelli doesn’t have the flexibility to move players like Joey Gallo, Jose Miranda, Carlos Correa, or Max Kepler through the spot in the lineup, but he also hasn’t needed to with an ever-changing 26-man. That has also meant that Buxton himself has needed to grab onto his new role and succeed.

So far, it looks as though the plan is working.

The Twins have seen Buxton play in 32 of the team’s first 35 games. Across that time, he has posted an .860 OPS with eight home runs. The OPS is 27 points higher than where he was a season ago, and his 135 OPS+ is higher than any point in his career aside from the 61 game sample in 2021.

Certainly there are still things for Buxton to improve upon. He racks up strikeouts at a pace Miguel Sano would be proud of. What he has done to curb that this season however, is generate a career best 12.5% walk rate. While only active during an at bat over the course of a game, Buxton has to lock in when he steps into the box and needs to make the most of each opportunity.

While mic’d up during a recent game against the Cleveland Guardians, teammate Carlos Correa talked about how he convinced Buxton to be the Twins designated hitter. While he understands that the superstar wants to play the field and take his mind off of at bats, he was also able to articulate how his availability increases Minnesota’s chances to win the most.

Over the past handful of seasons the Twins have only seen a consistent designated hitter in very short stints. Josh Donaldson did so while hurt, and Nelson Cruz played just 258 games despite being remembered fondly through all of them. Sano never panned out in the traditional sense, and someone like Jim Thome hasn’t existed for quite a while.

All of those players fit the body style of what you would expect from a designated hitter across baseball. All of them, save for Donaldson, manned the position because they were limited defensively. Buxton does not fall in that category, and it’s certainly why he’d like to find a way to be back out on the grass.

At one point it sounded like mid-May could be a realistic target for Buxton to take some reps in the outfield. Now though, it doesn’t seem like he’s any closer than he was coming out of spring training, and that’s probably something to start being ok with. Taylor continues to hold down his position better than anyone else to ever back up Buck, and Byron is doing everything we have come to know from him at the plate.

The hope would be that Minnesota’s offense could get into a better groove soon, but Buxton is more of the solution than a problem at this point, and it’s happening despite him not playing the field at all. For a 29-year-old star athlete, that is a reflection of his resolve, character, and focus.

 

View full article

[Jkeady12]

Couldn't disagree more. His approach to hitting is painful to watch this year, I truly believe that not playing in the field at least some of the time is affecting his hitting. He looks lost at times and anyone who has played baseball will tell you that getting in to the flow of the game by being in the field helps you at the plate. Sure there are guys that are professional DH's but they are usually incredibly good hitters who have played the game a long time (Cruz).  If they ever let him play in the field again you will see his focus and stats rise at the plate. No reason for him not to be playing some in the outfield now.

[Riverbrian]

8 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

What that has allowed is for Buxton to settle in as the regular designated hitter. Baldelli doesn’t have the flexibility to move players like Joey Gallo, Jose Miranda, Carlos Correa, or Max Kepler through the spot in the lineup, but he also hasn’t needed to with an ever-changing 26-man.

Buxton has been doing alright in the DH role but the team hasn't.  

Buxton playing some CF will open up the DH spot for other considerations. 

This team needs other considerations, 

 

 

[John Belinski]

I just don't think that Buxton can sit on the bench for 2 innings and then be a good hitter.  Just sitting around for up to 15 minutes and then getting up and be ready to bat has to be difficult. Being more active when playing in the field would seem to make a player a better hitter.

The Twins really have too much money invested in Buxton for him to just bat 3 or 4 times each game. He seems to be swinging at more bad pitches this year. If the Twins planned for him to not play in the field they should not have signed him to such a big contract.

[Woof Bronzer]

I don't think we should celebrate turning a 5 tool player into a 1 tool player.  I am also very concerned that Carlos Correa seems to think he made the decision to turn him into a DH.  

[Aerodeliria]

It may be a plan, but it uses two positions up, which reduces what one can do in the field and for the lineup. Can he make it to August without getting shut down? We're only six weeks in and everything is still smelling like roses, but we've seen that movie too. If Buxton happens to stub his toe rounding first, what has been gained? 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

This is a pretty big quandary.  On one hand, his hitting has been quite good so far, some may not like the “style” of it, but the fact remains his stats are good. He has also been able to play the season so far with no injury issues.  In addition to that, as the OP indicated, we have MAT to man center and not lose much defensively.  By this metric, Buxton should stay at DH.

HOWEVER, we are in essentially the same position as if Taylor were playing DH and Buxton were playing CF.  CF is in good shape, but replacing Taylor (at DH/CF) would likely be an offensive upgrade, while also providing the occasional half-day off for people like Correa, Gallo, Polanco, etc. all of whom are better offensively (or should be) than Taylor.  If the offense were rolling along, it wouldn’t really matter, but at the moment, every run generated is critical with the team hitting poorly the way it is.  So by that metric, Buxton needs to play CF.

So. . . . whether he stays at DH or moves back to CF really depends on whether you think he will stay healthy (or at least healthier) at DH.  Buxton “playing” CF doesn’t help much if he misses 50% of the games for the rest of the season.  In that scenario, DH Buxton is worth more than CF Buxton.  If he could be healthy, this is a no-brainer, then he needs to play CF.  THAT is the underlying question. I have no idea what will/could happen.  The coaches and Buxton have a slightly better (but still uncertain) idea, but we have to trust their judgement on that.  So far, they’ve kept him healthy so it’s hard to argue with them. 

[Nashvilletwin]

It’s debatable if BB as a full-time DH has worked for the Twins on the field - my own humble opinion is that having him in the lineup at DH, while not ideal, is better than not having him in the lineup at all.

Where it decidedly has hurt is with the identity of the team with the fans. During the off-season, the Twins’ marketing gurus fed us Buxton, Arraez, Polanco, and then Correa as the position player “faces” of the franchise.  Now BB DH’s only with marginal relative success, Arraez is gone, Polanco is pretty much meh Polanco, and Correa’s claim to fame is he’s our highest paid FA who also happens not to be performing as a dud at the plate.

My point is that BB in CF 2/3rds of the time would really help with the engagement of the broader fan base. But if it can’t be done, well then, it can’t be done and we soldier on. But a marginally successful DH who doesn’t show his incredible (league best?) speed or glove is difficult to put forth as the face of the franchise with the degree of success that might be desired. 

[TwinsDr2021]

26 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

On one hand, his hitting has been quite good so far, some may not like the “style” of it, but the fact remains his stats are good.

 

Is good, good enough? His oWAR after 34 games is .8, in 92 last last year it was 3.2, in 61 games in 21 it was 3.5. It 39 games in 20 it was 1.0, and in 87 games in 19 it was 2.1.

In my quick view, it looks like this year is his worst hitting year since 18, now I understand worst is relative. If my math is correct and he plays the same amount of games the rest of the year that will put him at 148/149 and if he stays the same his oWAR will end up a hair under 3.5.

I guess I was hoping that this DH role would allow him to play more games but still hit like he was the last two years.

[Whitey333]

Buxton has and always will be an enigma of sorts.  At times he flashes some brilliance at the plate but that's getting to be less and less.  He's currently in a o for 20 streak and looks bad and overmatched again.  He is tied for the team lead in strikeouts at 43 with the recently demoted Larnach.  He is tied in RBI with 19 also with the recently departed Larnach.  Bottom line is Buxton is just an average hitter.  Unless you accept a .226 average as superstar status like Correas .189. IMO Larnach and Miranda were demoted in part due to the poor performance of the teams so called star players.  Had they been performing to their capabilities, Larnach and Miranda may have still been on the team as this may have been less pressure for those guys to perform.  I'm not even saying they shouldn't have been sent down.  Their production in some regards has been better than the star players.  Too bad they had to be used in par at least as scapegoats.

[danielp19653]

On FanGraphs it looks like from the DH position the Twins are 18th in wRC which would suggest it isn't working great, I imgaine Buxton will heat up again like he did a couple weeks ago, but hard to feel like the Twins are getting so much production from the DH with him there it wouldn't be better to rotate some other guys through.

[tony&rodney]

Buxton taking some walks is a positive. Byron still needs to have a check system to remind himself to lay off the high fastball. He can hit the pitch fully in the strike zone at the top but is toast on any pitch 2+ inches up out of the zone. In other words, Buck cannot hit the high ones and needs to let them go. I'm appreciating his improved control of at bats thus far this season.

[umterp23]

Twins signed Buxton to be face of franchise for $MM's cash and it wasn't to be the DH.  5 Tool player is truly 1 tool player.  

Hitting for Power, Hitting for Avg,, Fielding Ability, Throwing Ability, Speed.

Hitting for Power: 16th out of 100 for all MLB two have hit at least 5 HR = mediocre

Hitting for Avg: 132nd out of 162 for all MLB players hitting above .200 = poor 

Fielding Ability: No Rank = N/A

Throwing Ability: No Rank unless you call 8 bat flips throwing ability = N/A

Speed: SB with 2 is tied for 114th = poor (only chose SB's but extra base hits, snagging fly balls, keeping singles from becoming extra base hits, etc. you get my drift

So are we really saying he has been good DH which has created trickle down effect for other players as Buck has positioned himself as DH.  Mgmt didn't sign him for DH role, Fans didn't sign up for DH limited use role.

Who cares if he appears in over 100 games when we see him 4 times a game walking to the plate for 45 second at bats. So if doesn't get on base, he impacts the game for about 3 minutes a game.  Sure nice paycheck for him!

[Jocko87]

He's taking a lot of walks because no one else is hitting. He's not producing at stratospheric levels as he can be pitched around right now.

Taylor hitting at league average is better then what would be rotating through the DH role currently so it's probably the best lineup they can put out there.

When other bats heat up this discussion changes a bit but for now it's working about as good as we could hope.

[Schmoeman5]

4 hours ago, John Belinski said:

I just don't think that Buxton can sit on the bench for 2 innings and then be a good hitter.  Just sitting around for up to 15 minutes and then getting up and be ready to bat has to be difficult. Being more active when playing in the field would seem to make a player a better hitter.

The Twins really have too much money invested in Buxton for him to just bat 3 or 4 times each game. He seems to be swinging at more bad pitches this year. If the Twins planned for him to not play in the field they should not have signed him to such a big contract.

I'm not dismissing Byron Buxton. But I question how his playing the outfield makes him a better hitter? He's never been a high avg. guy and he's a consistently streaky hitter on the positive and negative side. I think most people view him as a mookie Betts type hitter which he never was nor ever will be whether he's DHing or playing CF. Let's see if he can put up these huge projection numbers by performing in 140 or 150 games primarily as DH vs 100 games as DH/CF

[h2oface]

Thanks for your help, Correa. 5 tools down to one. Good plan? Not in my book.

[Yawn Gardenhose]

He's a glorified Rob Deer as a full time DH. And hey, Rob Deer had value back in his day. But it's not like anyone built a franchise around Rob Deer. 

When the golf swing is  clicking, Buxton can get results. It's just a matter of how often the golf swing is clicking.

The Correa thing is laughable and is an indictment of the front office. They would be embarrassed, if they had any shame to begin with. 

[jkcarew]

The plan hasn’t been a disaster…Buxton has produced enough…and for the most part, MAT hasn’t been a total wash offensively.

The problem is that a team as offensively challenged as the Twins can’t afford to sacrifice offense at ANY position where they have an alternative. And the alternatives at DH are multiplying as the 40-man gets healthier. While the alternatives at CF remain…Buxton.

[mikelink45]

We have used two players to fill one position.  Taylor and Buxton are joined at the Twins hips and that removes the flexibility and production that could have been with Buxton healthy.  If he is healthy why is he still just DH?  

[PopRiveter]

9 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Buxton has been doing alright in the DH role but the team hasn't.  

Buxton playing some CF will open up the DH spot for other considerations. 

This team needs other considerations, 

 

 

This is the truth.

The same offensive stat line is MUCH more valuable at a prime defensive position than at DH because replacement level offense at DH should be a big step up from the offense we can get from Taylor or Gordon in center.

[Riverbrian]

11 minutes ago, PopRiveter said:

This is the truth.

The same offensive stat line is MUCH more valuable at a prime defensive position than at DH because replacement level offense at DH should be a big step up from the offense we can get from Taylor or Gordon in center.

Exactly

[Schmoeman5]

Buxton is not nor was he EVER a 5 tool player.                                                 1. Hit for avg. (Never)
2. Hit for power. Yes.
3. Run. Absolutely.
4. Defensively, One of the best CF of all time. When healthy.                    5. Arm strength. Yes. It's above avg.

If he was able to stay healthy and played 130 or 140 games per year, there would be a healthy debate for his HOF enshrinemeInt. So if the best he can offer is the maximum number of games he can provide as DH the Twins will happily take the results of 600 ab's vs 400 he might accrue by playing both. He's averaging less than 100 games per season for his career after all. I'm not saying he should never play CF again. But I'm also not opposed to his solely dh role either. Whatever maximizes his playing time.

Edited May 16, 2023 by Squirrel
Fixed formatting

[Jocko87]

7 hours ago, h2oface said:

Thanks for your help, Correa. 5 tools down to one. Good plan? Not in my book.

But see, here’s the thing. 5 tool player is a term that only really applies to prospects. If all 5 tools fully develop they are known by a single name, Trout, Jr, Bonds, A-Rod etc.  Almost like unicorns. 

I flatly reject the premise that he’s only using one dimension of his game as a DH.  Three of the five are still in play when on offense. If I read some of these posts correctly, we’ve figured out how to make 4.5 fully developed tools a bad thing?  I would go so far as to say the hit for average tool is pretty solid when adjusted for changes to the game since the 5 tool thing was invented. Hitting approach might be a better metric but that’s a different discussion. 

The 6th tool is availability.  The names mentioned earlier had it. Buxton hasn’t had a healthy season yet which is why he was less than half price.  So far, this is working brilliantly, especially considering how solid Taylor has been.  

Careful reaching for too much cake, you knock it on the floor nobody gets any. 

[h2oface]

 50 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Buxton is not nor was he EVER a 5 tool player.                                                 1. Hit for avg. (Never)                             2. Hit for power. Yes.                             3. Run. Absolutely.                                 4. Defensively, One of the best CF of all time. When healthy.                         5. Arm strength. Yes. It's above avg. If he was able to stay healthy and played 130 or 140 games per year, there would be a healthy debate for his HOF enshrinemeInt. So if the best he can offer is the maximum number of games he can provide as DH the Twins will happily take the results of 600 ab's vs 400 he might accrue by playing both. He's averaging less than 100 games per season for his career after all. I'm not saying he should never play CF again. But I'm also not opposed to his solely dh role either. Whatever maximizes his playing time.

32 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

But see, here’s the thing. 5 tool player is a term that only really applies to prospects. If all 5 tools fully develop they are known by a single name, Trout, Jr, Bonds, A-Rod etc.  Almost like unicorns. 

I flatly reject the premise that he’s only using one dimension of his game as a DH.  Three of the five are still in play when on offense. If I read these posts correctly, we’ve figured out how to make 4.5 fully developed tools a bad thing?  I would go so far as to say the hit for average tool is pretty solid when adjusted for changes to the game since the 5 tool thing was invented. Hitting approach might be a better metric but that’s a different discussion. 

The 6th tool is availability.  The names mentioned earlier had it. Buxton hasn’t had a healthy season yet which is why he was less than half price.  So far, this is working brilliantly, especially considering how solid Taylor has been.  

Careful reaching for too much cake, you knock it on the floor nobody gets any. 

I'll give you 2 then. If he doesn't play the position, there is no defense at all (4 & 5) and (1) he doesn't hit for average except for occassional streaks. Adjusted for the lack of players hitting for average across the board? I'll give it 1/2 if you like. #3 Run? Sure, but part of that is stealing bases, which he/they are afraid to let him do. OK. I'll go 1/2 for running around the bases and stretching singles into doubles. But he doesn't steal and isn't using any running to get to baseballs in the outfield. It is almost worse that he has developed 4 of them, (Or 4.5 if you like, and ignore his career average) and doesn't use 2 1/2 of them. 

I hope he starts to again. Surely his knee is getting stronger, and I read the plan was to use him at DH through May and then......

As we all know, when he is cooking, he is perhaps close to if not the best in MLB.

[David Maro]

I would like to know what you people are watching. Buxton is getting his at bats and in almost every game. The last time I looked Taylor leads the team in steals and plays above average center field. You are not a 5 tool player sitting on the Il. One of those tools is speed,why is he not leading the team in steals. The reason is simple like the whole team its all about the homerun. His at bats are swing for the fences. This team is full of strike out artists. The manager said he is fine with that. If and when they start playing baseball not homerun they could run away with the central.

[twins_89]

I don't think Buxton has to be in CF every day, but I do think he needs to start playing the position at least half the time. At this point I don't get why he can't even be a part time outfielder.