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On this past Wednesday's episode of Effectively Wild, titled "Playing the Hits," podcast co-hosts Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discussed Texas Rangers infielder Jake Burger's recent "minor league reset." Acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins last offseason, Texas brought Burger to the Lone Star State with intentions of turning the right-handed hitting power bat into the club's primary starting first baseman. Unfortunately, the 29-year-old struggled his first month in Texas, hitting .190/.231/.330 with a 29.6% strikeout rate and 55 wRC+.
Performing 45% worse than league average, Rangers decision-makers elected to demote the former Marlin to Triple-A Round Rock with intentions of him finding his footing at the plate and becoming the hitter that convinced Texas to trade for him in the first place. Spending 10 days in Round Rock, Burger refound his form, hitting .391/.462/.696 with a 193 wRC+ over 26 plate appearances. The corner infielder also significantly improved his strikeout rate at Triple-A, striking out only 7.7% of the time.
Since being promoted back to the majors on May 12, Burger has returned to being an above-average major league hitter, hitting .237/.262/.508 with an improved 23% strikeout rate and 114 wRC+. Twenty-three of Burger's 61 plate appearances since returning from Triple-A have come against Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox pitching. Still, his return to form suggests that the offseason acquisition could become the offensive contributor Texas had hoped he would be after acquiring him last offseason.
In the podcast episode, Lindbergh describes Burger's demotion as the "platonic ideal of the minor league reset" while also noting that "Maybe (Burger) was gonna hit better anyway, because he was expected to hit well. That's why they acquired him." Lindbergh later stated, "It would be kind of a shock to the system to bent sent back to Triple-A. And I guess that was the idea. And it was a good shock to the system. It sort of jump-started him. I think for me, it would do the opposite. I'd get even more in my head."
Lindbergh's analysis was reasonable. A significant number of established major leaguers would not handle a demotion to Triple-A well. However, later in the episode, Rowley noted that "...What I've heard from scouts who interacted with (Burger) on the complex while he was working his way back through all of that is just that, like, he has a good perspective on things, he is a cheerful person, and you know, he by all rights could have been discouraged and seems like he was able to sort of weather the psychological load of all that impressively."
Rowley continued, proclaiming, "And it seems like it's hard (to make adjustments in-season), and it takes time, and like, are you going to be able to actually do the work in game against like big league fastballs and big league breakers? Like impossible." She continues, "And, so, I do think for some of these guys, it's like not a relief to be sent down. Like, obviously, you want to be in the show. But to really have the room to work through it and readjust and reset seems like it would be meaningful and...on some level, it could be a relief if you're thinking about it the right way."
While discussing the number of variables that would go into a minor league reset, Lindbergh and Rowley come to the justified consensus that the player undergoing the reset would need to possess the correct, optimistic mindset. If the specific player did not possess that mindset, then the club would run the risk of exacerbating the player's struggles. Burger possessed the correct mindset and, to this point, has benefited from his brief minor-league tune-up. Interestingly, presently struggling Minnesota Twins infielder Royce Lewis could also potentially benefit from a similar reset.
Since returning from the IL on May 6, the 25-year-old corner infielder is hitting .138/.200/.215 with a 17 wRC+ over 70 plate appearances. Despite generating an impressive 14.3% strikeout rate and well-above-average bat speed and squared-up rate, Lewis has been unable to consistently produce meaningful results at the plate, a trend that dates back to late August last season. While it is unknown whether Lewis's newfound inability to produce at the plate is health-related or swing mechanics-related (or both), major league pitchers are exploiting his shortcomings, resulting in his worst start to a season in his young career.
Whether Lewis's indomitable optimism is genuine or not is a matter for debate. However, considering his innate ability to perceive misfortune through rose-tinted glasses publicly, there is reason to believe Lewis would embody a positive outlook on a short-lived demotion to Triple-A, similar to how Burger handled his situation with Texas. The trio of Jonah Bride, Brooks Lee, and Willi Castro could viably fill the void at third base left by Lewis's hypothetical absence. However, given the overall club's anemic performance at the plate, Twins decision-makers might have no choice but to provide Lewis the opportunity to continue working through his offensive shortcomings at the major league level.
Would a short demotion benefit or hurt Royce Lewis and the Twins? Let us know in the comments.
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