Byron Buxton had the potential to be a superstar when he was MLB’s top prospect, but things did not work that way at first.
Byron Buxton looks like a star just in time for the Twins
Monday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at the rise of Byron Buxton, the Astros’ clinching, and the saddest eight minutes in recent Philly sports history.
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
At age 21, he was a disaster and one of the worst regulars in the majors for the 46 games he appeared in. The next year, Buxton improved across the board, but he still had a below-average bat, with his glove his saving grace. At 23 now, though, Buxton seems to finally be coming into his own and looking a lot like the player prospect experts expected him to.
And it’s just in time for the Twins.
Buxton has been hitting since July, and not just a little bit, either. Since July 1, a stretch that includes 55 games and 214 plate appearances, Buxton is batting .332/.379/.601 with 12 homers. He was especially torrid at the plate against the Blue Jays this weekend, going 7-for-16 with a pair of homers to help the Twins secure a four-game split.
Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s OK, though. Subscribe to our daily MLB newsletter and let us do the heavy lifting for you each morning to find the things you need to see.
The Twins need this kind of production from Buxton, who has brought his season OPS up from well below .600 to just shy of the league-average thanks to his tremendous turnaround since July. They’re here a little early in the whole rebuilding process, contending before anyone expected them to just one season after leading the league in losses. And the reason the dream of the first half remains alive is thanks to players like Buxton coming into their own to become the players they were supposed to be later on in the process.
The Twins were selling at the trade deadline, but now they’re two games up on the Angels for the second wild card spot. They are four games behind the Yankees and about to enter a three-game series with them. None of that is possible without Buxton seemingly evolving into the form Minnesota has been waiting to see for a few years now.
Is Buxton going to continue playing like a star, or is this a half-season bright spot meant to showcase what he might be capable of regularly in the future? It’s a little tough to say for sure — especially given Buxton’s batting average on balls in play is nearly .400 during these 55 games — but all the elements he needs to thrive are in place. He might not be a .330 hitter or a guy who slugs .600, but even Mike Trout isn’t really that guy.
Buxton can be a star, and the centerpiece of the Twins offense (and defense), even if he slides a bit in the future. And that’s good, because the Twins need him to be one.
- Tigers starter Matt Boyd took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the White Sox, but he allowed a two-out double that kept him from finishing off the deed. Detroit still won 12-0 and Boyd got a complete-game shutout, but it’s not the same.
- However, the Tigers might have been able to keep Matt Boyd’s no-hitter alive had Brad Ausmus made a defensive substitution in the outfield in a game where they were crushing Chicago.
- The Braves have been mathematically eliminated from reaching the postseason. You knew they wouldn’t get there, but hey, now it’s official.
- It was a better Sunday for the Astros, who clinched the AL West thanks to some vintage Verlander.
- Philadelphia suffered one of the saddest eight-minute stretches in sports for a single city.
- The Yankees looked at Tommy Kahnle as the centerpiece of their summer trade with the White Sox, but he’s struggled since going to New York.
- Speaking of the Yankees’ pen, Pinstripe Alley wonders if the AL Wild Card Game should be a bullpen game for New York to leverage its strongest pitching asset.
- The Twins fired minor league manager Doug Mientkiewicz, and Twinkie Town has no idea why they would do that.
- Here is a comprehensive list of Kevin Pillar hat tricks, defined by him hitting a homer, drawing a walk, and making an absurd catch in the same game.
See More:
