Article: Twins Minor League Report (6/10): Buxton Shines

[Jeremy Nygaard]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1871-Twins-Minor-League-Report-(6-10)-Buxton-Shines

[Steven Buhr]

Pardon the blatant self-promotion of our blog but I posted a video of Buxton's triple over at Knuckleballs, if you're interested.

 

Knuckleballs: Kernels and Buxton put on a show for FSN

[Twins Twerp]

Just watched the game from my dvr. That catch was jaw dropping. My expectations were super high and he exceeded them. This guy is special. Gold glove caliber defense is an understatement. My brain was releasing serotonin and I have fallen in love. Also my dopamine levels are cocainish

[Jeremy Nygaard]

So you're with my claim earlier this season that he may be the best Twins prospect ever?

[rickyhawaii]

Javier Baez 4hr's.. Baez is a beast, needs plate discipline though

[Red Bull]

So you're with my claim earlier this season that he may be the best Twins prospect ever?

 

At this moment right now I dont see how he isnt the twins best prospect ever. Hes got all 5 tools and hes showing them at a young age of 19. He could very likely be a 30/30, 30/40 or 30/50 and .300+ guy. I wouldnt even count out 40HR at his peak just because he has so much potential. Its gonna be so much fun watching him and Sano in the majors.

[big dog]

re: that catch- you know, that scout that compared him to a young Willie Mays doesn't sound all that foolish. Holy crap.

[stymietime]

Here is the catch

YouTube

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Here is the catch

YouTube

 

Yeah, it's linked in the story too. But no links, for that catch, is too many. In fact.

it is again.

 

The most impressive part of the catch is that he didn't even lose the sunglasses off of his head. He made a nice diving catch earlier this year and his hat and sunglasses went flying. Not this time.

 

He's a freak. We talk about Mauer (and now Stewart) being better QBs than what the Vikings have. Buxton would be a better WR or DB than the Vikings have. (And please, pretty please, somebody tell me to stick to baseball.)

[Mr. Ed]

 

That's also video of the Buxton catch.

[cmb0252]

BaseballAmerica's J.J. Cooper was at the game today and said in his 20 years of watching prospects Buxton is the best teenage prospect he has ever seen live. He later notes he never saw Trout/Harper live but still. Anyone who follows J.J. on tweeter would have read how much he likes him today. Here is a post up on BA he wrote about him:

 

Byron Buxton Makes A Catch for The Ages - BaseballAmerica.com

[jokin]

Yeah, it's linked in the story too. But no links, for that catch, is too many. In fact.

it is again.

 

The most impressive part of the catch is that he didn't even lose the sunglasses off of his head. He made a nice diving catch earlier this year and his hat and sunglasses went flying. Not this time.

 

He's a freak. We talk about Mauer (and now Stewart) being better QBs than what the Vikings have. Buxton would be a better WR or DB than the Vikings have. (And please, pretty please, somebody tell me to stick to baseball.)

 

As if "the catch" wasn't enough for one day's worth of legend-building, the legged-out triple was also little short of amazing. A scout had written earlier on that he has never seen a guy cover the ground from first to third quicker- he proved that was a true observation today- there is no question that the Twins have never had a prospect like this before.

[lightfoot789]

Walker is 53 for 54 in stolen bases in his collegiate and professional career. That is crazy for a young man @ 6'4 230 lbs. He had another big SB today

[Jeremy Nygaard]

BaseballAmerica's J.J. Cooper was at the game today and said in his 20 years of watching prospects Buxton is the best teenage prospect he has ever seen live. He later notes he never saw Trout/Harper live but still. Anyone who follows J.J. on tweeter would have read how much he likes him today. Here is a post up on BA he wrote about him:

 

Byron Buxton Makes A Catch for The Ages - BaseballAmerica.com

 

You are encouraged to visit the link and comment about how much you hate commenter "Sid P". Go!

 

By the way, the video is also available there.

[jokin]

BaseballAmerica's J.J. Cooper was at the game today and said in his 20 years of watching prospects Buxton is the best teenage prospect he has ever seen live. He later notes he never saw Trout/Harper live but still. Anyone who follows J.J. on tweeter would have read how much he likes him today. Here is a post up on BA he wrote about him:

 

Byron Buxton Makes A Catch for The Ages - BaseballAmerica.com

 

Thanks for the great find, cmb! I took some static a month ago when I asserted that the Twins must change their standard operating procedure on how to handle someone this good- I'm now more convinced than ever that Buck must be fast-tracked as quickly as possible to the show.

[jokin]

Walker is 53 for 54 in stolen bases in his collegiate and professional career. That is crazy for a young man @ 6'4 230 lbs. He had another big SB today

 

I would hope that Walker would share some of his SB secrets with Buxton, right now, base running is the only visible chink in Byron's armor.

[Riverbrian]

Last year I watched Trout tear the league apart and I thought to myself... If only the Twins could bring up a young guy like Trout. I was so jealous of the Angels.

 

After watching Buxton for the first time... I'm trying real hard to temper my enthusiasm because it was just one game... But I'm reading the stats for the year... Watching the game... Reading the scouting reports... Watching the game... Listening to Molitor talk about how coachable he is... Watching the game... Hearing TK talk about how Molitor will talk to him about not slowing into second instead of busting hard for triple and watching the next bat be a triple like he was just coached before our eyes.

 

I'm trying hard to temper my enthusiasm but everything is matching up. The Twins version of Trout seems to be a step or two away. Wow... That felt good. Hope he continues to punish the minors.

[greengoblinrulz]

ROC is only a player short till Plouffe is activated & someone is sent back

[jokin]

Last year I watched Trout tear the league apart and I thought to myself... If only the Twins could bring up a young guy like Trout. I was so jealous of the Angels.

 

After watching Buxton for the first time... I'm trying real hard to temper my enthusiasm because it was just one game... But I'm reading the stats for the year... Watching the game... Reading the scouting reports... Watching the game... Listening to Molitor talk about how coachable he is... Watching the game... Hearing TK talk about how Molitor will talk to him about not slowing into second instead of busting hard for triple and watching the next bat be a triple like he was just coached before our eyes.

 

I'm trying hard to temper my enthusiasm but everything is matching up. The Twins version of Trout seems to be a step or two away. Wow... That felt good. Hope he continues to punish the minors.

 

Watch the replay on the triple

. It is supposedly established lore that Bo Jackson is the fastest right hander from home to first---at 3.89 seconds. This is youtube, not an official stopwatch, mind you- but Buxton appears to get to first base, leaving home plate between the 5 and 6 second mark in the video and touching first, rounding the base mind you, at just about the 9 second mark.

 

 

More than that, on about his third stride after just touching first, he appears to actually ACCELERATE his speed to another gear altogether-- just as the RF is getting the relay from the CF, and then he still beats the throw to third.

 

All in all, he goes from home to third in under, or around 10 seconds- in youtube time, anyway.

[KernelsGuy1]

BaseballAmerica's J.J. Cooper was at the game today and said in his 20 years of watching prospects Buxton is the best teenage prospect he has ever seen live. He later notes he never saw Trout/Harper live but still. Anyone who follows J.J. on tweeter would have read how much he likes him today. Here is a post up on BA he wrote about him:

 

Byron Buxton Makes A Catch for The Ages - BaseballAmerica.com

 

Buxton's catch was No. 2 on SportsCenter evidently! https://twitter.com/matt_cozzi/status/344317109288976384

[h2oface]

Watch the replay on the triple

.

 

very futuristic! i will be ready for it on wednesday, now.

[jokin]

very futuristic! i will be ready for it on wednesday, now.

 

Blame the copywriter for the video, all I did was cut and paste the link as is.

[Turd Furgeson]

So you're with my claim earlier this season that he may be the best Twins prospect ever?

 

Oh, I don't know Walter Johnson was pretty good.

 

All joking aside, I don't think that's a preposterous statement at all, and that's saying something! I do think he's on the cusp of being as good of a prospect as Mauer right now, and may end up being a better one depending on his development.

[PseudoSABR]

BaseballAmerica's J.J. Cooper was at the game today and said in his 20 years of watching prospects Buxton is the best teenage prospect he has ever seen live. He later notes he never saw Trout/Harper live but still. Anyone who follows J.J. on tweeter would have read how much he likes him today. Here is a post up on BA he wrote about him:

 

Byron Buxton Makes A Catch for The Ages - BaseballAmerica.com

Here's JJ's twitter -- it's got lot's of good Buxton stuff from today. The guy absolutely gushes.

[Seth Stohs]

I chatted with JJ last night for awhile. He doesn't get to a lot of games, but this was a good time. Saw the Kernels and Albert Almora the last couple of days. Today, he'll see the Kernels and Lance McCullers and Carlos Correa and Rio Ruiz.

[mikelink45]

Is there any way that the Twins move out of their historic reluctance and take the same chance with Buxton that DC did with Harper or Seattle did with Griffey? Some guys are just natural and adjust to whatever level they are at. It would be great to see them give Buxton at least a week to show off and taste the majors and to give twins fans a reason to attend.

[Steve Lein]

I love this line about Thompson: "He also, allegedly, has a sweet mustache. So that may be the source of his new-found success."

 

And I no doubt believe it to be true as I once did research on Carl Pavano's time with the Twins, and how his stats compared when sporting the mustache vs. being without. It was actually pretty staggering in favor of the Mustache - he pitched longer in games (over 1 inning longer on average), almost a full run less on his ERA, higher strikeout totals, something like 8 complete games with 'stache vs. only 1 without, better WHIP, etc..., etc...

 

He also went the entirety of the 2011 season without the 'stache, pitching considerably worse than he had in 2010 while sporting it most of the time, until the Twins were 62-99 in the win-loss columns. He brought it out for game 162 and proceeded to pitch a Complete Game Shutout (and a 1-0 win) to avoid 100 losses.

 

This is not an unexplainable phenomenon, the 'stache has power... q; )

[Steven Buhr]

Blame the copywriter for the video, all I did was cut and paste the link as is.

 

Yep, that would be me, I guess. Blame it on the Coors Light I had at the game. I'll correct it tonight when I get home. There's probably a clever #BuxtonFacts in there, somewhere, though... I'm just not creative enough to come up with it today.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

I love this line about Thompson: "He also, allegedly, has a sweet mustache. So that may be the source of his new-found success."

 

Proof!

[Riverbrian]

Watch the replay on the triple

. It is supposedly established lore that Bo Jackson is the fastest right hander from home to first---at 3.89 seconds. This is youtube, not an official stopwatch, mind you- but Buxton appears to get to first base, leaving home plate between the 5 and 6 second mark in the video and touching first, rounding the base mind you, at just about the 9 second mark.

 

 

More than that, on about his third stride after just touching first, he appears to actually ACCELERATE his speed to another gear altogether-- just as the RF is getting the relay from the CF, and then he still beats the throw to third.

 

All in all, he goes from home to third in under, or around 10 seconds- in youtube time, anyway.

 

AND!!! He appeared to stumble a little around second base... AND!!! The triple was on a ball that was cut off by the Center Fielder... It didnt even get past anyone.

 

I really wanted a College Arm last year... I'm embarrassed with myself for wanting that. I haven't seen this SS the Astros drafted first last year but he's gotta be Sam Bowie right now. Its quite possible in a few years we will be able to say with gusto that the Astros made a mistake. We are thinking it right now... In a few years we can safely verbalize it.

 

God I hope Buxton keeps progressing and stays healthy.