A healthy Buck is a happy Bunch of fans

Game7-91 · April 29, 2022

From the FiveThirtyEight crew comes a somewhat deep dive into Buck's impact on the lineup: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/we-want-to-believe-in-byron-buxton/

Exec Summary: Buck is playing at All-Universe levels. When he plays. His impact on the Twins win percentage is undeniable. Some of the stat's are new to me and reinforce the point, but also put into perspective the company Buck keeps at these levels. Heady stuff. He is also missing games at an all-time level. But we know this.

So the question for TD members: Are there other ideas, beyond the regular day-off rotation, that we can submit to the Twins brain-trust to better risk-manage Buck in-game?

I'll start:

1. Extra padding in the OF fence. Think of it like luxury mattress toppings: a level of memory foam, latex foam, maybe an air pillow wrapped through the CF area of the fenceline....something that would absorb the force of impact like Charmin tissue. Also get rid of the rolled topping on the fences- LaMonte Wade had an ugly thumb dislocation because of that. Buck surely will find a way to do the same eventually, so lets be proactive about it.

2. Use Buck in DH role more often, maybe 20 games or so per season. Celestino becomes #4 and back-up CF.

3. Custom fit Buck's unifrom from mithril. If it worked for Frodo to ward off lethal Orc assaults, it can work for Buck. Light weight but indestructible- HBP, fence collisions, and ground dives would no longer pose a threat. Just have to convince the Pohlad's to pony up-I understand dwarves drive a hard bargain.

Enough with the bad jokes. What else can be done, out of the box thinking required, to keep Buck healthy? Because it is clearly evident this team goes as far as Buck carries it.