Minnesota Twins Need Spark: Byron Buxton the Answer?
By David Hill
The month of August has not been kind to the Minnesota Twins. Formerly on the edge of the Wild Card hunt, and within shouting distance of the Kansas City Royals, the Twins have gone 4-9 this month. Now, they find themselves at 57-58, the Twins are three games out of the Wild Card and a whopping twelve games behind the Royals in the American League Central. Clearly, the Twins need something to break them out of their malaise.
Perhaps the Twins could find that spark in Byron Buxton. Buxton, who had been the top prospect in baseball prior to the past two seasons, made a brief appearance with Minnesota this season, posting an uninspiring .189/.231/.270 bating line with 15 strikeouts in 37 at bats. Buxton’s speed, which led to his 94 stolen bases thus far in his minor league career, did not exactly translate on the major league basepaths, as he stole only one base in three attempts.
However, Buxton has been much better since coming off the disabled list and assigned to the AAA Rochester Red Wings. While it is a small sample size of nine games, Buxton has produced a .378/.425/.459 batting line with two stolen bases. The Twins prized prospect has started to look like himself once again.
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Should Byron Buxton continue to perform at that type of a level with the Red Wings, he could find himself back with the Minnesota Twins in short order. Aaron Hicks has performed reasonably well in center, but the Twins could use Buxton at either of the corner outfield positions. Torii Hunter is hitting home runs, but that is about all he has done this season. Could Buxton be an upgrade over Hunter for the rest of the year?
Sometimes, for a team to go on a bit of a run, an infusion of youth can be needed. While it is a lot of pressure to put on a young player to come up and potentially help pull a team back into contention, Buxton is expected to be a major part of the future of the franchise. For the Twins, who are suddenly collapsing, that future may as well begin now.
Maybe Byron Buxton cannot cure all of the Minnesota Twins problems, but if he continues to perform at this level, he could certainly help. With the Twins needing something to get them back on the right track, perhaps Buxton can help get them going once again.