The Minnesota Twins bottomed out in the 2021 season, finishing dead last in the American League Central division.
The Twins’ performance was considered a major disappointment considering the back-to-back American League Central crowns in the two seasons prior.
Byron Buxton Is Key
A key factor for the Twins to contend again is sure to be the continuation of the breakout performance fans began to witness at the beginning of the 2021 MLB season by Twins’ CF Byron “Buck” Buxton.
Buxton opened the 2021 campaign in April batting an excellent .426 along with 8 home runs, earning the title of American League Player of the Month for April 2021.
This was the impact the Twins had been waiting for from their star centerfielder, but a theme that has been too far too present in his career would shortly arise.
No stranger to injury, Buck’s season would ultimately be derailed once again due to hamstring issues and a fractured hand.
The Minnesota Twins still believe in the special talent that Buxton has. The organization made this evident when the decision was made to extend him this past December.
The reasons are not hard to see why they would want to retain a special talent like Buxton. When healthy, he has exemplified the dynamic ability to be one of the league’s top five-tool players. Already a former Gold Glove winner (2017), Buck’s defense in center field has proven to be elite as a result of his lightning speed and rocket arm strength to match.
He has flashed tools at the plate that allow him to hit for both power and contact, making him a rare dual threat. A terror on the base paths, he is also one of the prominent bag snipers in the game. The threat of his speed has terrorized pitchers into mistakes.
Considering Buxton’s hot start last year was not enough to convince the team, he also will benefit from the addition of newly signed Carlos Correa. There has already been evidence of that impact in Spring Training as Buxton showed the same vigor as last April with a .469 batting average, 5 HRs, and 13 RBI. With a proven All-Star caliber slugger now behind him in the lineup, Buxton is even better positioned to finally have a true breakout season.
Buxton is a home grown talent that has long been the choice to be the Twin’s clubhouse leader. Minnesota has not had a true long-term superstar since Joe Mauer, and Buxton has the charisma, talent, and clubhouse presence to be the city’s next star.
Injuries aside, nothing stands between Buxton and a real shot at the AL MVP award in the 2022 MLB season. With a unique power speed combination, only few players in the sport can match such an exceptional skillset.
Good Money, Good Faith
The 2022 season is poised to be the best in Buxton’s young career. The extension given to Buxton was beneficial to both player and team.
The seven-year $100 million extension gives Buxton longstanding security and stability.
He will contend for AL Comeback Player of the Year and AL MVP awards, and helping the Twins return to the playoffs can propel him in the pursuit of those awards.
Byron Buxton’s scalding hot bat has no freeze. This video alone shows you how Buxton has the potential to completely wreck a game by turning singles into doubles and being versatile with his hitting approach, able to bash or make contact and utilize his blinding speed.
His Wednesday was something special as he went 5-for-5 and his Minnesota Twins squad, who have the fewest wins in MLB, thrashed Cleveland.
He’s proving to be the total package.
When MLBbro.com told you that the former No. 2 overall pick was looking like an MVP candidate and then referred to MLB Network’s Joel Sherman as the original source of such a proclamation, we got attacked by a couple of trolls who felt it was too early to anoint a guy with a lifetime batting average below .250, as the best player in the game this season.
Fast forward to the 25-game mark and it’s clear to everyone analyzing Buxton’s development that he’s not just on a hot streak. He’s matured as a player. The five-tool athlete with unlimited potential is finally ascending to official superstar status nine years after his Draft Day.
You just never know with baseball.
Coming into Wednesday’s game, Buxton owned a 2021 slash line of .390/.429/.847. Now he’s at an eye-popping.429/.463/.921, and at the moment his eight home runs tie him for the MLB lead.
It’s gotten so legendary for Buxton that people are mentioning him in the same breath as Kirby Puckett, the great Hall of Famer and two-time World Series champion.
Until today, that seemed far-fetched. Buxton is probably close to Puckett’s equal with the glove, although he doesn’t have Kirby’s ups, but as a hitter, Kirby was head and shoulders better,
However, the maturation of Byron Buxton has become a movie, where blinking could cause you to miss the kid from Baxley, Ga. becoming a mature, patient assassin at the plate.
He started off hot with two nukes in his first two games and despite a brief injury setback, he hasn’t missed a beat.
This is looking like the season that 7-year veteran outfielder Byron Buxton finally puts it all together for Minnesota. The multi-tooled player has never lived up to his offensive potential in the eyes of most baseball fans. He’s fast, he has power, but his wicked web game has kept him in the league. Winning a Platinum Glove is no joke.
Two games is not a season make, but after homering in back-to-back games to start the 2021 season, Buxton has certainly built a fan base of respected baseball voices.
“He’s now put power onto his game,” said Joel Sherman on the MLB Network, following Buxton’s clutch jack. “The only thing that was missing last year was patience behind the plate. I think he drew like one or two walks all of last season. If he never draws a walk and gives you power and perhaps the best defense in the game in centerfield, then that combination makes him incredibly valuable. Staying healthy and the ability to get on base a little more turns him into an MVP candidate.”
On Opening Day, Buxton launched a 465-foot moon blast off the scoreboard. It was a “look at me now” flex that raised some eyebrows.
On Saturday night, he smacked another one out that broke up a no-hitter in a 0-0- pitchers duel, giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning and chasing the Milwaukee Brewers starter into the showers.
Corbin Burns no-hitter over as newly acclaimed power hitter Byron Buxton takes him deep
Buxton has never hit more than 16 homers in a season and has never had a batting average higher than .262, but he always seems one hot streak away from pulling it all together and becoming a next-level force on the field. He did slug a career-high .577 in the 60-game COVID season and finished 16th in the MVP voting, so his performance showed us he was coming.
Maybe this is the year he ascends to an elite level.
LOS ANGELES – The Minnesota Twins have hit a dry spell, with their lead man at the center of it.
Byron Buxton, who made his first All-Star appearance this year as a starter, just got placed on the 10 day injured list (a very familiar place throughout his career) with a strain in his right hip.
He entered the first year of his seven-year, $100 million extension last offseason. The year was filled with high expectations, and with the signing of superstar shortstop Carlos Correa, this was expected to be an electric duo to elevate Minnesota the top of the AL Central.
Everything was going as planned at the beginning. In his first 24 games of the season, Buxton was doing his part, as he was batting .256, with 11 home runs, 20 RBI, and only struck out 28 times. He had a .323 on-base percentage, and .678 slugging percentage during the stretch. People were calling him the early MVP and the Twins were able to get off to a lead in the division race.
The last 68 games, however, have mostly been mediocre. While his hot start earned him the All-Star spot, as well as being tied for third in the AL in home runs with 28, the rest of the numbers have not been great. And now he is back on the IL, and the Twins have fallen out of first place and are now outside of the playoffs looking in.
Rocco Baldelli, manager of the Twins, talked about this unfortunate news but also how this time away will be beneficial for Buxton.
“It’s very tough news, of course, but also knowing with what Buck’s been dealing with, there wasn’t actually much of a decision to be made…His knee has [also] been a fairly consistent issue since April, so I think this period of time will help that also settle down.”
His recurring knee injury and now the hip injury is problematic. The trip to the IL could not have come at a worse time, with Minnesota fighting for their playoff lives.
Buxton has all the tools in the world to become a superstar in this game. He can hit for power, he has got lightning speed, and he is the best defensive outfielder in the MLB. So why is he not a superstar? It all has to do with the injuries.
Big Bux Can’t Stay Healthy
Sure, players will get hurt throughout the season, as they have to play 162 games, but at this point, with him being 28 years old, entering his prime, and being the face of the franchise, it is getting a little ridiculous how often he’s out.
Throughout his minor league and his major league career, Buxton constantly gets hurt and spends a good chunk of time on the IL. Whether that’s from sacrificing his body by making ridiculous catches, or just his body giving out. It seems like every time something good is going for him, a new injury brings it to a halt.
If Buxton ever wants to reach that superstar billing, he needs to figure out a way to try and avoid these injuries and have more longevity for the rest of his career. Maybe a new trainer or diet or something. Because if he doesn’t, 20 years down the road he is going to be talked about as a “what could’ve been” player.
In his return home, Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees was the brightest star in Los Angeles on Monday night, earning the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player award and leading the American League to a 3-2 win over the National League in the 92nd edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game
With the AL trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning, Stanton stepped to the plate with Jose Ramirez standing on first after a leadoff single. Facing the Dodgers’ Tony Gonsolin, Stanton quickly fell behind 0-2.
Unfortunately for Gonsolin, his splitter didn’t split anything but the middle of the plate.
Stanton squared up and sent the ball on a 457-foot flight into the left field stands. Once he crossed the plate, the game was tied at two and Gonsolin was rattled. So much so, that he served up another fat one to Byron Buxton.
However, when the votes were tallied, the Yankees slugger was named MVP. Stanton finished the game 1-2 with two RBI and a run scored.
Giancarlo Stanton becomes just the third Yankee to win the award, following Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera (2013) and Derek Jeter (2000).
New York has claimed two of the five MVPs won by MLBbros since 2000, with Stanton joining Jeter, Garrett Anderson, Carl Crawford, and Prince Fielder. Fielder was the last Black player to win the award, doing so in 2011.
This year’s All-Star festivities could mark the beginning of a resurgence for Black and brown players across the league.
The energy was there among the players. They noticed and seemed poised to help push the doors to the game open even wider as a new generation of future All-Stars had their names called during the draft.
The AL’s quartet of players, led by Stanton, went a combined 3-for-8, with two home runs, two runs scored and accounting for all three American League RBI.
For Stanton, it was a dream come true. The LA-native, after a five-year absence and playing in his fifth All-Star game, placed himself into the pages of history by adding this MVP to his collection which includes the 2017 National League MVP award.
He’s also the front runner on the list of current MLB players to be the next slugger to reach the 500-homer plateau. If he, and Judge, can stay healthy, Stanton might get the opportunity to add “World Series MVP” to his resume as well.
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