Article: Byron Buxton: Reckless or Aggressive?

[Cody Christie]

Minnesota is off to a great start after winning their first two series. Lots of things seem to be working in the Twins favor, but there is a lot of season left to be played. One of the biggest concerns came in Tuesday night’s extra-inning win in Kansas City.

 

Byron Buxton went hurdling into the wall trying to make a catch. He ended up in a pile on the ground and had to be removed from the game. This isn’t the first time Twins fans have seen their young star come up injured on an aggressive play. Is it getting to the point where Buxton is being reckless?Aggressive

Being aggressive is one of the reasons Buxton was able to walk away with a Platinum Glove in 2017. His ability to get to almost any baseball is what makes him one of the game’s best defensive center fielders. He can make highlight reel catches look effortless and defensive metrics support his superior defensive ranking.

 

He added over 20 pounds of muscle this off season and even joked about running into walls at TwinsFest. “If I want to play the way that I want to play and run into walls, I’ve got to have a little bit more cushion,” he said. This was his first off-season where he made adding weight a focus.

 

Luckily for Buxton and the Twins, he was able to get into the game on Wednesday. He started the game on the bench, but he was used as a late inning pinch runner. Buxton showed little sign of the injury bothering him as he was able to steal second base. Then, he came around to score the game-winning run on Eddie Rosario’s single.

 

Minnesota has an off-day on Thursday before playing Bryce Harper and the Phillies on Friday. Buxton’s aggressiveness might not have cost the team anything this time around.

 

In case you missed the play on Tuesday, here is a look at how Buxton was injured.

 

Reckless

At this early juncture of the season, Buxton seems to have more confidence at the plate, and he’s had some key hits for the club. Minnesota has a better offensive and defensive line-up with him on the field. This is one of the reasons diving into walls is a reckless decision.

 

The calendar has barely turned to April. In the course of a 162-game season, one play isn’t going to be the difference in the outcome of the team’s season. Buxton suffering a serious injury could have greater consequences for the club. There was little chance of Buxton catching the ball. He could have played the ball off the wall and held Adalberto Mondesi to an extra-base hit.

 

Tuesday’s play was reminiscent Buxton jumping into the wall at Yankee Stadium during the 2017 Wild Card Game. That was a winner take all game in October. At that time of year, it makes sense to try for a diving catch to keep the game close. It doesn’t make sense to try a similar play against a rebuilding Kansas City club on April 2.

 

Buxton’s professional career has seen multiple injuries, but he seems to have made some great changes leading in to this season. It might be in his best interest to make another change this season. Try to find a balance between aggressiveness and recklessness so he can stay on the field for the entire year.

 

What do you think about Buxton’s outfield play? Is he aggressive? Reckless? Or maybe a little of both? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

 

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[ashbury]

Byron Buxton: Reckless or Aggressive?

 

Yes.

[DocBauer]

Agree with Ash. He's both. Experience and maturity will hopefully help him decide better as to when to go all out, and when to reign it in a bit. He's just too valuable to not be in the field.

 

Not sure if he got turned around or fooled, but that play just didn't look right. Sometimes, if in doubt, just pull up and play the ball off the way. Keeps him healthy and hopefully prevents something like an in the park HR. All games count, but really, risking injury the 4th game of the season?

 

A few really bad swings here and there, but everyone has them. Very encouraged by what I've seen in ST and the first few games. All the more reason to do what is necessary to remain healthy and be part of the daily lineup.

[D.C Twins]

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

 

[jimbo92107]

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?

[TheLeviathan]

I don't mind if he's reckless and aggressive.....if his body holds up.  I have lingering concerns about his fragility and missing a day after that doesn't ease my concerns.

 

He's a great CFer, but we need him on the field and making smart baseball plays.  I hope this was a learning experience for him.

[helgey7212]

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

[goulik]

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...

[Tovar12]

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?

[joemama]

 

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.

[Lasorda_This_Out]

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....

 

[h2oface]

Smart or stupid? That might be a better question. That play was stupid and foolish and cost a run. The smart play was to play it off the wall. For the game and for is body. He didn't even look at the ball. He definitely needs to smarten up. We need him all year.

[whitsbrain]

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.

[theBOMisthebomb]

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).

[wabene]

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

[Platoon]

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!

[diehardtwinsfan]

The reason he put that muscle on was to be able to play more agressively with less risk to injury. I'm fine with that. I don't think he shoudl avoid the wall when he needs to make a catch. 

[Blackjack]

Reckless AND stupid.

 

You can play hard AND smart, Buxton hasn't figured that out yet. 

 

Hopefully Baldelli can impart some wisdom on him.

[killertwinfan]

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.  

[sloopjont]

It was the wrong play.  He hadn't located the ball so no reason to go crashing into the wall.  That could've/should've cost his team the game.  With no shot at the catch, keep the hitter to a double.

[IAMNFan]

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.

[yarnivek1972]

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.

[lukeduke1980]

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.

[Steve Lein]

 

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

 

This. Torii Hunter was graceful at the wall, always seemed to come down soft and easy. Buxton just crashes.

[segagenesisgenius]

 

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).

[PDX Twin]

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?

[yarnivek1972]

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.

[gocgo]

 

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.

[mikelink45]

Bad instinct - great desire.  Not sure how you rein that in, but there is a season and a career to consider.  

[Doctor Wu]

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?