Buxton’s Back: Was No Rehab a Mistake?

Rehab probably wouldn't have hurt but I still expect #9 batter production out of him.    IMO, he should legitimately try to bunt for base hits twice a game until the rest comes around   I thought it helped him get on track last year and it can help him this year.   Its such a great weapon for him and I haven't even seen him try it this year.

Rehab probably wouldn't have hurt but I still expect #9 batter production out of him.    IMO, he should legitimately try to bunt for base hits twice a game until the rest comes around   I thought it helped him get on track last year and it can help him this year.   Its such a great weapon for him and I haven't even seen him try it this year.

Unless he bunts it off his foot.  

Didn't a previous article say he's not fully healed? I hope it doesn't mean he can't run at full speed. 

Should've kept LaMarre up too. Since he's also the mop-up pitcher it makes sense.

Not a chance. His defense is absolutely vital to this team getting back into things, and they are playing the top contender for the second wildcard spot.

If it takes some time to get his swing back (which wasn't really there to begin with), so be it. I wouldn't mind seeing him get creative and bunt with two strikes when it's least expected, etc. Take everything. Whatever can help get his wheels on base. Revolutionary idea, I know.

Try to make me go to rehab i say no no no......Amy Winehouse

On one hand bring him back asap, his defense is superb enough to warrant whatever he bats.

On the other hand, damn it would have been nice to get him some AAA abs to get going and get confidence.  He has been able to get back on track with his approach with a little minors time in the past. 

He is a very valuable player even if he doesn't hit but him hitting increases that value exponentially.  I would say don't mess with his confidence and throw him right back in vs mlb pitching but its the route they have chosen. 

I see a lot of people suggest him bunting but pitch recognition seems to be his major flaw and that isn't going to lead to bunts.  Buck needs to get major league breaking stuff down, until he does he will be lost at the plate.

I'd rather have him up with the Twins. His bat is struggling, no question. And at this point he's not the player we expected -- not even close.

But his defense is too important. So is his energy when he does get on base. So I'm OK with this. Rehab or not, he's going to risk further injury. Might as well risk it while helping the Twins' outfield.

His defense is great, but we need something resembling competent with the bat. I have a bad feeling about this. 

As long as his bat gets anywhere near the production that Grossman's bat had been giving (bar is set low), it's a net positive when factoring in Buxton's defense.   

Yes. Work the foot. Get the swing back. Face competitve picthing. 3-5 games.

"To make room for Buxton on the roster, Ryan LaMarre was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. In his 20 games with the club, LaMarre hit .324."

Not many teams have the luxury of sending a .324 hitter down to the minors. Twins must be stacked with decent fielders with hot bats.

"To make room for Buxton on the roster, Ryan LaMarre was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. In his 20 games with the club, LaMarre hit .324."

 

Not many teams have the luxury of sending a .324 hitter down to the minors. Twins must be stacked with decent fielders with hot bats.

A .324 hitter that had been hitting .181 in limited at bats since the walk off in Puerto Rico on April 18th.     It's not like the Twins just sent down Lou Gehrig because Wally Pipp was back from injury.   They sent down a player with prior to this season had two big league hits to his name at age 29.

Now, should have Lamarre been starting more instead of Grossman in the outfield, yes.     But I'm kind of "meh" about him being sent down.

After 3 weeks away from baseball, I think we were going to see "Bad Byron" in the batter's box against MLB pitching regardless of the rehab assignment.

I think the Twins know this, so they are going to get those first 2-3 weeks out of the way now by playing him. We should see Good Byron again by mid-June. Kind of a shame, as it may be another lost season offensively for Bux. It's become almost a given that he'll be out for a significant portion of the season at this point.

Am I the only one that took his comment as sarcasm?

Noooooooooooo.

I did.   Tone gets lost in forums though.

A .324 hitter that had been hitting .181 in limited at bats since the walk off in Puerto Rico on April 18th.     It's not like the Twins just sent down Lou Gehrig because Wally Pipp was back from injury.   They sent down a player with prior to this season had two big league hits to his name at age 29.

 

Now, should have Lamarre been starting more instead of Grossman in the outfield, yes.     But I'm kind of "meh" about him being sent down.

Your last paragraph is exactly my point, but without my sarcasm. Nice sarcastic dig about the Gehrig/Pipp comparison though.

My feeling would be that Buxton seems to start out about 2 for 50 with 25 K's in any scenario...might as well get it out of the way as fast as possible.  Have to just give him the at-bats even though it's horrifically painful to watch.

We're in year year 4 with both Buxton and Sano, and due to injuries and uneven performance, we're still in "need to find out" mode with both.  Frustrating.

I understand the team need for Buxton and Sano to come through, but 24 or not, a talent like Buxton should be able to hit at least 250, but he continually has long stretches where he flails and looks lost at the plate.  24 is young, but as he was coming up he was compared to Trout and others who have flourished at 24 and younger.  Chris Bryant, Carlos Correa, Martinez, Harper, Machado... there is a long list so I am not impressed by his age.  Given his potential I am concerned that we need to see a learning curve start soon. 

Did Buxton not hit .253 last year?  Since when did becoming Kris Bryant, Bryce Harper, or Mike Trout be come the barometer of an impactful player.  

Buxton struggles to make consistent contact and is probably always going to struggle to do so.  Further, injuries have pretty consistently kept him from being able to really get in a rhythm playing long stretches of games healthily--which obviously isn't a positive.  Buxton had a similar type slump in his first 50-80 ABs last year and hit pretty close to .270 for the remaining 90% of the season.  

Buxton's gonna be a streaky hitter who struggles to hit for a high average, strikes out a lot, and because of this go through periods where he slumps hard.  That doesn't mean that over a full 162 game season he isn't going to be a productive player.  His speed and feel for base-running and his ability to drive balls and find gaps when he does make contact mean that he makes a bunch of positive plays too.  

His 162 game pace last year put him at 80 runs, 17 2Bs, 7 3Bs, 19 HRs, 60 RBIs, 35 SBs.  I use the 162 game pace to just show his impact on a per game basis in a similar way to how the NBA lists player stats as 25 points per game/8 assists per game/etc. and players are judged that way even if they only play 65 games.  (Not discounting that health is a concern)  Those numbers were largely from hitting near the bottom of the order too.  

Is that Mike Trout?  No, but that level of offensive production combined with the value his defense brings to a team put him somewhere between a top 15 and top 25 player in terms of WAR for position players. 

I'll take a guy with that kind of impact even with his limitations and the fact that he isn't "Mike Trout or Bryce Harper". 

__________________________________________________________________________________

I'm pretty excited we have a guy, who's only 24, on the team that can impact the game at that high of a level in his own way.   

No rehab? A mistake?

Buxton is needed for his defense.  

Putting him on a rehab assignment in the first place was a mistake. Work on his swing in the minors after an injury? Who cares! Get him up here. The Twins missed his defense mightily in his absence.