Byron Buxton

[bird]

What a great problem to have. They've been playing Candido Pimento at 2B, a la Rosario, to free up room in ETown for Kepler, Jiminez, Walker, and Rhodes; Rodriguez and Buxton in GCL, and the two best players on the Dominican team, like Pimentel and Jiminez were last year, are center fielders. And there are some at least marginal prospects in place at Beloit and Fort Myers: Roberts, Ortiz, Williams, Concalves, and Morales. Nice to think about not having Mark Dolenc starting in the AA outfield.

 

But I have a hunch Buxton will shoot up the system. He might be that good.

[greengoblinrulz]

Last 17gms 16/53 (.302) 14runs 4doubles 3triples 4HR (.717slgg) 16k 8bb 2hbp (.413OBP) 3/5sbs

11 of 16 hits for XBases....sweet.

The kid is for real....but anyone checking on him & just seeing his season stats dont realize how good he's been

[jokin]

What a great problem to have. They've been playing Candido Pimento at 2B, a la Rosario, to free up room in ETown for Kepler, Jiminez, Walker, and Rhodes; Rodriguez and Buxton in GCL, and the two best players on the Dominican team, like Pimentel and Jiminez were last year, are center fielders. And there are some at least marginal prospects in place at Beloit and Fort Myers: Roberts, Ortiz, Williams, Concalves, and Morales. Nice to think about not having Mark Dolenc starting in the AA outfield.

 

But I have a hunch Buxton will shoot up the system. He might be that good.

That's along the lines of what I am hoping for. I know the Twins don't usually push guys too quickly, even extremely talented ones. If he could get his little look at E-Town this year and go through both A-level teams next year, he could be at New Britain in 2014 and possibly ready for roster addition and September call-up in 2014. Is a Trout/Bryce Harper-like call-up from AAA and ascendancy to greatness in early-to-mid-2015 too much for a long-suffering Twins fan to ask?

[greengoblinrulz]

Both Aaron Hicks & Ben Revere (first rounders) started their careers in GCL and started their next yr in Beloit. This is what they will do with Buxton. Question is whether he will start the yr there or pick up the yr in May/June.

[drjim]

Both Aaron Hicks & Ben Revere (first rounders) started their careers in GCL and started their next yr in Beloit. This is what they will do with Buxton. Question is whether he will start the yr there or pick up the yr in May/June.

Small point but Hicks didn't start in Beloit until May, so he did have some time in extended spring before starting full season ball.

 

I think they are a little more aggressive with Buxton because he is better, was the #2 pick, and is a little on the older side for his high school class. Makes sense to push him.

[righty8383]

Anyone know why Byron Buxton was pulled by the 2nd inning tonight?

[jokin]

Buxton steals home tonight, adds another SB, goes 2-4 plus a BB, raising his average at E-Town to .286.

 

He's starting to come on strong, just like he did in the GCL. His last 10 games (coincident with his promotion to the lead-off spot) slash is awesome:

385/489/605/1094

[rickyhawaii]

Impressively Buxton's been perfect on stolen bases in the App League. Curious if the GCL coaches are more strict on sb than Etown.. It's going to be fun and see how Buxton develops. Like how he's not just a hacker so far and taking walks. He has a ton of potential, can only hope for a strong Twins line up in the future. Buxton, Hicks, Sano, Rosario, Kepler, and then some others.. would be cool for an all in house prospect team. Even though i think teams have to make trades for prospects..

[greengoblinrulz]

finished the ELIZ season

21gms 77ABs .286/.368/.429 16runs doubles triple HR 6rbi 15k 8bb 7/7sb's

[Jeremy Nygaard]

In Jim Callis's latest AskBA, he lists Buxton as the 9th best prospect in the minors (excluding players on September call-ups).

[Jeremy Nygaard]

[video=youtube;FL6ExnC-7Us]

 

Pretty good two-strike swing.

[Larsbars08]

Buxton's currently 1-2 with a homerun and a walk tonight. He's absolutely tearing the cover off the ball right now. It's still way to early, but if he continues hitting at a torrid pace, how long before he has to move up a level. Obviously a lot can still go wrong, and one week of baseball is a tiny sample size, but its hard not to look at his early season stats and dream of bigger things.

[drivlikejehu]

Clearly, extremely small sample size. But, the main drawbacks people talked about were Buxton being raw due to weak competition, and questions about how well he would translate his raw power to game situations. So the early returns are particularly intriguing.

 

Having said that, I think there is no chance at all the Twins promote him. The Twins will let Buxton destroy the Midwest League completely if that's how it plays out.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

At 20, so slightly older than Buxton now, Arcia went 352/420/704 in 20 games as a DH (all in April) before going to Fort Myers. His situation was a little different, he underwent elbow surgery and rehabbed in FM before staying there. But not a terrible comparison.

 

Optimistically, I could see Buxton getting to Fort Myers after the MWL All-Star break. If he performs well there, he could start next year in AA and be a phone call away from the show.

 

(That being said, he just struck out for the 3rd time tonight and is now batting only .500. It's freezing cold though and he's probably never swung a bat at this temperature before, so... get used to it!)

[Seth Stohs]

He's very patient at the plate. Tommy Watkins said that he's one of those guys that is comfortable with 2 strikes. Means he'll strikeout a lot, but patience is huge.

[pioneers3]

The Midwest League is know as a pitching league, lot of big parks, cold weather early, sometimes into June.

[nicksaviking]

He's very patient at the plate. Tommy Watkins said that he's one of those guys that is comfortable with 2 strikes. Means he'll strikeout a lot, but patience is huge.

 

It doesn't make me any less optimistic but Hicks is demonstrating this trait with negative consequences currently. Did these guys have Joe Mauer posters on their walls growing up?