Byron Buxton: Reckless or Aggressive?

Reckless AND Aggressive

But let Buck be Buck (abbreviation of BBB for all future posts because I suspect this topic will come up...often)...

For better or worse his principle value will likely always be his elite defense which is predicated on his aggressiveness. We've just got to ride the wave on this one, knowing it can (and will) crash at some point.

P.S but have a very clear back up plan in CF, which we do in Kepler and Cave

P.P.S and no I don't think he is going to have a 10-15 year career of 140-160 games. But boy will be fun to watch until the wheels fall off

Moar important question: Why doesn't MLB insist on better cushions for its outfield walls? When million-dollar athlete/entertainer collides with brick wall, the wall wins, but the rest of us lose. Major League Baseball has it in its power to solve this problem. Hell, they could pad the walls with pool noodles and prevent a few injuries that way. Or have some public-spirited mattress company showcase its products in every park. We have the technology to prevent bone-breaking collisions with outfield walls. Why not get it done?

IMO he seems to have bad wall instincts. He is spectacular everywhere else, but he always seems to go into the wall really awkwardly.

But let Buck be Buck (abbreviation of BBB for all future posts because I suspect this topic will come up...often). 

Actually the abbreviation seems more appropriately BLBBB...

Aggressive - Yes

Reckless - No

Fragile - HELL YES

As mentioned in a thread somewhere here on TD, Torii Hunter and Kirby Puckett ran in to many walls in their careers, and didn't end up in heap like a fragile broken down fawn.  What's up with Buxton.  Is he a drama queen?

IMO he seems to have bad wall instincts. He is spectacular everywhere else, but he always seems to go into the wall really awkwardly.

Generally agree with this - he isn't anywhere near as graceful with the wall as Torii or Puckett or Trout or other great CFs. I also think that at times it seems like he's overly dramatic after he hits the wall. The play Tuesday night did not look very serious. Just look at the picture above - he's braced, compact, and hitting the wall with the side of his body. I played a lot of contact sports and that is a great body position for contact. Don't get me wrong - I love Buck and what he brings, but I can't stand it when players over-dramatize injury. Get up already.

Per my Twitter comment, should Byron be slotted in RF going forward?

Eliminate Perpendicular wall closures vs Oblique? Twins lose speed to deep center vs the predictable Bux annual IR. WAR maybe -2? Otherwise BB on IR for 1/3 to 1/2 each season going forward with his present position.

It's in his DNA to chase-crash on every flyball to deep center. Fine. Kepler = CF; Bux = RF

Scary: we have to close our eyes when Max and Buck converge on a ball to deep right-center......

Just my thoughts.....

Thanks....

I'm a big fan of Buxton but he needs to think about making the smart play for his team and his future and less about making ESPN Top 10 Plays.   He can't keep slamming into walls.   His brief history shows his body can't take the abuse.

Sometimes you have to live to fight another day. How Buxton can balance that with going all out on every play and still staying healthy and on the field to help his team will come with experience (hopefully).

Maybe he should talk to Kepler or at least pay attention to him. Kepler had a very good sense of where the wall is

Bad Wall Instincts (BWI). A new metric? . He keeps getting injured because he is aggressive. He keeps getting injured because he, for some reason, doesn't read the wall ball well and can't tell an impossible catch from a possible one. He keeps getting injured because he is reckless. The play in question was simply dumb. It was just as poor a defensive play as when you come in, dive early, and the ball goes by you for a triple, or more. But at least the grass is soft!

Ken Griffey Jr. went through the same thing although he was a better hitter than defender and was thoroughly missed when he was out of the lineup.  Not so much for Buck.  His replacement has brought better AB's so the +'s and -'s of his absence don't impact the team or fanbase as much.  If he doesn't make great plays he really shouldn't even be here so I would call him aggressive instead of reckless.  

Aggressive - Yes

Reckless - No

Fragile - HELL YES

 

As mentioned in a thread somewhere here on TD, Torii Hunter and Kirby Puckett ran in to many walls in their careers, and didn't end up in heap like a fragile broken down fawn.  What's up with Buxton.  Is he a drama queen?

Tuesday’s play seemed reckless and unnecessary and awkward. From memory, most of his other wall collisions seemed like better decisions.

Per my Twitter comment, should Byron be slotted in RF going forward?

Eliminate Perpendicular wall closures vs Oblique? Twins lose speed to deep center vs the predictable Bux annual IR. WAR maybe -2? Otherwise BB on IR for 1/3 to 1/2 each season going forward with his present position.

It's in his DNA to chase-crash on every flyball to deep center. Fine. Kepler = CF; Bux = RF

Scary: we have to close our eyes when Max and Buck converge on a ball to deep right-center......

Just my thoughts.....

Thanks....

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t LF the larger field at Target Field? So, if you were going to do this, he would logically play there.

The next play at the wall will tell me more, it's almost like he'd been waiting all off season anticipating this first play, and wanted to test out how his added 20 lbs would help him.  And all of those thoughts converging in a matter of seconds as he tracked the ball into the wall and he ended up with his awkward aggressive/reckless play.

Moar important question: Why doesn't MLB insist on better cushions for its outfield walls? When million-dollar athlete/entertainer collides with brick wall, the wall wins, but the rest of us lose. Major League Baseball has it in its power to solve this problem. Hell, they could pad the walls with pool noodles and prevent a few injuries that way. Or have some public-spirited mattress company showcase its products in every park. We have the technology to prevent bone-breaking collisions with outfield walls. Why not get it done?

Part of the problem is that changing the walls to be better cushioned would inevitably change the way that balls bounce off the wall, leading to way less doubles and way more inside-the-park home runs.  Basically, a wall that absorbed the impact of a body would also absorb the impact of a ball, leading the ball to hit the wall and die there rather than bouncing back.  Certainly not the worst thing in the world, but it would change the game quite a bit (including how every major leaguer has learned to play the outfield), such that I could see the players not liking it as it would leave them looking silly (much how basically every inside-the-park home run involves at least one player looking silly).

One thing that hasn't been said: Why was he playing so shallow at that point in the game? I think I remember that it used to be a cardinal rule for centerfielders to play deep enough that they could get back on any catchable fly ball. This would be especially important late in a close game where the defense is trying to prevent extra-base hits.

 

Yes, he should have played the ball off the wall for a double given that he couldn't get to it. But shouldn't he have been positioned deeply enough to make the catch?

He made it to the wall at the same time as the ball. So, he was playing deep enough to get to a catchable ball.

More important question: Why doesn't MLB insist on better cushions for its outfield walls? When million-dollar athlete/entertainer collides with brick wall, the wall wins, but the rest of us lose. Major League Baseball has it in its power to solve this problem. Hell, they could pad the walls with pool noodles and prevent a few injuries that way. Or have some public-spirited mattress company showcase its products in every park. We have the technology to prevent bone-breaking collisions with outfield walls. Why not get it done?

Pool noodles!  I like it!  So think of the adventure in the outfield of playing one off the wall when there are pool noodles every 6 inches...or a even a foot.  Dang!  This is a game changing idea!  Inside the park homers would abound!  Scoring would go up!  No, you can't just stand and watch your fellow outfielder play it off the wall....the ball might be coming your way!  I love this idea.  Protect the outfielders and add adventure to the game.

Gotta say I'm torn on this issue. Or conflicted. Whatever the case. I love the fact that Buxton is aggressive and plays with flair and energy ... but I'm still concerned about the reckless stuff, the banging into walls without factoring in the consequences. Not sure if it's a judgement problem or just the way he wants to play the game. His style of play aside, I also endorse this idea of more padding on the walls. Why risk a player's career when a relatively simple fix will reduce such risks?