ewen21

I hear you, but we are on the hook with Buxton for five more seasons. The guy is still up on a pedestal for a lot of people and some whom still insist "if not for injuries" he'd be a Hall of Famer. A mere critique of the guy sets off anger in some people and I find that kind of amusing at this point. Where does that anger come from? I have no idea. I for one never saw him as an elite player. I think he is a very spotty offensive player and that is easily more than half of a position player's game, save the catching position. He had elite speed and yet he was not a good base stealer. He strike out a ton and his lifetime OBP is under .300, which is kind of pathetic for someone who is supposed to be "elite". His defense, while great, reached mythically stupid proportions. No, he was not saving boatloads of runs...not ever. He made a lot of good plays look spectacular and there are never more than several plays (maybe) in any season he made that no other center field could make. There aren't large ranges on the field where Byron Buxton or any other centerfielder only makes the play and no other centerfielder does. The average CF makes about 2 put outs a game and Byron Buxton is not the only one who makes great plays. The Twins overvalued his speed and defense and ignored his offense and inability to stand up to the rigors of major league baseball even when it was obvious. We signed him and I thought it was a stupid signing from a baseball standpoint. So many people had drunk the Kool-Aid (including teammates) that we literally had to sign from a PR/marketing standpoint. So much was already bestowed upon him and he didn't deserve it. The Twins need to learn a lesson here. Now the guy can't even play the field and he is exposed for what he is. He never was a good hitter. He had moments where it looked like he was turning into a better hitter, but we had a center fielder that was a whole lot better than he is and that man is Torii Hunter. Give me Torii Hunter ten times out of ten over Buxton and I have said this all along. Buxton is a mirage. He simply is not wired to play a full season of major league baseball. You can chalk it up to whatever you want, but that is a proven fact. If we could hit the eject button and launch him into baseball outer space we ought to. Then again, we are committed to him for another five years so we have no other choice than to hope for the best for at least another two years while he gets paid to remain in limbo while people speculate about his availability. At this point it is hard for me to care much about whether he is in the lineup or not. He doesn't help very much anyway.

No offense, but I had to use my first disagree ever on your post right here. Delmon Young is a playoff hitter and Max Kepler is not. This goes way beyond their performance. The overall vibe and body language of both in playoff situations says to me Delmon is a "playoff hitter" and Max is not. There idea of "there is no clutch" is completely absurd. These are humans and they care about how they perform. Some are like Kepler and go completely catatonic. Others are like Delmon and they wake up and are dialed in. I respectfully disagree 100% with your opening sentence. Outcomes in baseball are not random samples. It takes a heart, a brain and talent. There is a psychology behind it and they psychology of it is a big reason while this organization lost 18 games in a row. It was not because the other team was THAT MUCH better. A good percentage of it was mindset.

I felt the same exact way, sorry to say

All in all a horrendous performance by our offense. You cannot win games if you get six hits in two games at home. Lack of hitting lost this

I do not want to hear about a bad call.

Kepler was 1 for 18 in postseason play going into this season. That counts for something with me. In very big spots he has done NOTHING. Not a single RBI in 37 postseason at bats. You are OK with that? He has been unclutch in the postseason. He can erase it all next time up with something big. I would like to see him do it. HOWEVER, I will not say he has been good in the postseason or even this series. Not in my opinion,

This is why we lose in the playoffs. Year after year, game after game. We have seen so many games like this one where it looks like scoring a run is darn near impossible.

This has been the case in the playoffs forever with this organization. Many of the hitters look catatonic.

To be honest, Kepler was dreadful for a long time and had a nice run for a couple of months. Jeffers and Wallner are not proven commodities and Taylor never was a good hitter. They look REAL bad in a lot of their at bats. but my expectations for these players in bigtime baseball games just was not that high.

Mostly horrible at bats so far in the two games played at Target. I do not want to hear about pitching and defense wins for a long LONG time. Wanna know what loses? Not hitting at all. It was why we lost most of the games we lost during the playoffs losing streak. Terrible at bat after terrible at bat with the exception of Julien and Lewis.

That was the worst take of the game. What was he hoping for? A walk? Kepler tends to go catatonic

I am not saying he is an ex murderer. Even last year when the goal was to get him in 100 games. I am saying after many years of him being injured and through each scenario it is has been tough to tell what exactly it was that kept him off the field. We have been told what a supreme athlete he is and he's played in over 92 games one time. Enough with the excuses and the "we gotta keep him healthy" stuff. That is HIS responsibility. Availability is the best ability.

Just so you know, the Twins have scored only 48 runs in those last 18 playoff games in a row that they have lost. The lack of offensive production and lack of professional at bats is probably the biggest reason why they have been prohibitive losers in the playoffs. I do not know what the make Christian Vasquez and his .603 OPS. We do not need easy outs in the lineup. We have been there and done that in favor of "defense" enough. The defense doesn't suffer much with Jeffers in there over Vasquez. The lineup surely does. To address the topic .... You know what loses in the playoffs? Offenses that are toe up comatose. That is what loses. Give me the best lineup we can get and in this discussion that means Buxton isn't getting very many at bats if he does make the roster. I, for one, am not impressed with him marching into Rocco's office trying to tell him he wants in on the playoffs. What assurance does Rocco (or the GMs) have that Buxton won't come down with "swelling" or "soreness" and be a no go? He has not played at the major league level in two months All of a sudden the playoffs are around the corner and he is raring to go? How this doesn't raise red flags about the guy boggles my mind. To me, he is a guy who doesn't want to play more often than he wants to play. Color me suspicious at this point.

I really feels that way to you?

His lifetime average is .234 and his lifetime OPS is .749 and that is well below average for his position. I agree with you in that no one should be eating crow for criticizing him, or even calling for his all out release. He was very bad for a long period of time and we stuck with him much longer than most teams would. He had a two month turnaround this summer and that is nice. HOWEVER, I do not know if many have noticed, but he's in a minor dry patch right now. We are going to need him in October so he better not conveniently slump down the stretch. And by the way.....Kepler has been completely catatonic in the postseason. He is 1-18 in six games so he better snap out of this mini slump he has been in for now. We cannot afford another postseason where our bats go catatonic.

I wish I could give this ten likes. Soreness is all we really get, though. At no point during the season did theTwins expand on it beyond that. Even when Rocco went on that "He'd be out there if he could! But he can't!" rant he spoke in very general terms. I thought it was a silly display at the time, but that was actually an effective rant that covered the situation for the Twins. It stopped the Twins media corps to ask any more questions about it. Not a single follow up question. Didn't seem to warrant much of conversation in the press. Without knowing any actual diagnosis one can surmise this has only to do with Buxton saying "the knee is sore" and the Twins simply pulling him and playing cautious. Is it simply: Buxton doesn't play when he feels sore? How about Souhan being a reporter and getting some actual information rather than chastising fans for being "cork sniffers" and "snooty" They should grill Rocco until he erupts, if you ask me

Is it unreasonable to assume the Twins have looked at that knee, scoped it, treated it, monitored it, scrutinized it nine ways to Sunday? He was a central figure in their marketing these last few years and they invested long term. If there’s an injury that puts him on the IL that’s one thing. Right now it’s soreness. He is the only one who can feel the soreness. He’s the one who reports the soreness and that decides whether he can go or not at this point. The medical staff can only do what it does and if all monitoring equipment doesn’t come up with any specific injury then we are talking about soreness preventing him from playing. I honestly don’t know what to make of that.

Fun Fact: Luis Arraez has more hits this year than Ryan Jeffers has in his career.

I think it is important to ask would you take the 2000s over 10 losing seasons and a championship? Give me the championship.

I cannot look back on the last 20 years and say we have been successful simply because we contended and got the playoffs a bunch of times. What does it matter to "contend" if you hold the record for playoff losses in all North America sports in a post season? If you are giving me one title and ten crap seasons where we don't make the playoffs then give that to me over what we have had for the last 20 years. If you're telling me that a couple of years we advance in the playoffs that might be different. I am operating under the context of what actually happened the last 20 years

How I felt today will be you tomorrow!😎

These guys are not taught how to do it and they certainly do not practice bunting so while in theory it seems OK, in practice it isn't actually an option.

Do we even know if he knows how?

It's not the in game stuff as much as it is roster building and coaching philosophy (all rooted in sabermetrics). TO be specific, the emphasis on things like "exit velo" and "launch angle" and the lack of concern for putting the bat on the baseball has adversely affected this team (and many other teams). You think fact that this team is on its way to set a record for strikeouts in a season has nothing to do with an emphasis on certain sabermetrics that shouldn't be so emphasized? We wouldn't have Joey Gallo without their myopic view that doesn't extend very far beyond certain analytics that have become popular. And if we are going to be real, Buxton has not underperformed. If his history matters at all Buxton is by no means a reliable producer and no Twins fan should be surprised by this season. He has had a couple of good years and several dreadful years where he's been riddled with injuries. Some real talk about Buxton: He has played more than 92 games in a season only once He has never scored 70 runs in a season He has never driven in more than 51 runs in a season He has collected more than 76 hits in a season once Let me repeat that one. He has collected more than 76 hits in a season once! Let's not be deluded by this guy anymore. He has not underperformed. He has had more than his share of seasons like this.

No, I understand the concept so you do not need to explain it again and again. Lewis doesn't even have 200 plate appearances in the majors and has barely played 120 games in four baseball seasons at any level. That's the issue I have.