The Minnesota Twins are battling in the American League Central division and are trying to make a second consecutive trip to the postseason.
Two players that can strongly help Minnesota’s chance of making a postseason appearance are MLBbro’s Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis.
Both of these players have made a huge impact this season and are a big reason why the Twins are in the running to win the division.
When these two players are in the lineup, it puts the Twins in a good position to win games. Their energy rubs off on their teammates and boosts the entire morale of the team.
The question is, will these two be able to keep it up for the remainder of the season and can the Twins continue to make a push to try and capture the division or make a wild card appearance?
During the month of June, Byron Buxton has been productive at the plate. Through 80 at-bats, he was hitting .300 with five home runs and 19 RBI.
His presence at the plate has put his team in multiple positions to win games. In his recent outings, Buxton had back-to-back games where he hit a home run.
On June 27th against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he went 3-for-4 with three RBI, helping his team secure the win. Then on June 29th he went 2-for-4 with four RBI against the Seattle Mariners.
Buxton has looked real comfortable at the plate and his manager has been pleased with his performance.
“He’s finding ways to just have good at-bats, put himself in good counts. But the swing, I’ve said a couple of times before, looks very synched up. It looks very tight and it’s very impactful. He’s finding the barrel and the ball just really takes off when he’s putting good swings on the ball,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.
“Once you figure out what you don’t have to search for the whole time going into the cage, not spending 40 minutes on that one little piece you’re trying to figure out it kind of simplifies the game a little bit more,” Buxton said. “When I say, ‘see ball, hit ball,’ it’s more just about simplifying it to just go out there and have a quality at-bat.”
Royce Lewis has made an immediate impact since he returned from the injured list. The 25-year-old has been one of the most exciting players to watch this season.
Through 22 games, Lewis hit .289 with 10 home runs and 16 RBI. When he made his return from the IL in June, he homered in back-to-back games against the New York Yankees and hit the ground running after that.
During the month of June, he also had an eight-game hitting streak and during that hitting streak he hit four homers.
Lewis has displayed his power this season and he has helped the Twins tremendously in his limited appearance so far this season.
With over two months left of the season, Lewis can continue to add value to the lineup and put-up impressive numbers.
If both Buxton and Lewis can remain healthy throughout the remainder of the season, this Twins lineup will be dangerous and opposing teams will have their work cut out for them.
Byron Buxton has played an impressive 61 of 81 games this season and is impacting the AL Central race as Minnesota Twins make a run at playoffs and the division.
Minnesota Twins centerfield Byron Buxton returned from injury on Saturday as the Twins attempted to do away with its four-game losing streak, but it couldn’t reign victorious. It wasn’t until Tuesday though, when Buxton told the Nationals to buckle in as he took them for a ride.
At Nationals Park, Buxton knocked two bro bombs over the wall along with three runs batted in in a 10-0 victory against the Nationals — snapping the Twins’ seven-game losing streak.
On May 1, Twins centerfielder Byron Buxton went down with knee inflammation, an injury that knocked him out of action for a couple of weeks.
Upon his return, the 2022 MLB All-Star returned but was only able to register two hits in three contests.
This time, Buxton took a different approach and things worked out.
“I’ve been overthinking a little bit,” Buxton told the media after the contest. “Today, just went up there and didn’t try to do too much.”
For a slugger, a performance like that would add up given his mentality on Tuesday. Despite manning the designated hitter spot last season, injuries have set Buxton back and prevented him from reaching slugger status.
In fact, the two blasts brought Buxton’s season total to three, as he’s participated in 32 games and boasts a .257 batting average.
Buxton made his mark as a designated hitter in 2023 in an attempt to preserve his right knee. With his knee problems and the team’s losing skid, Buxton’s back was against the wall and he still prevailed.
“Something needed to change,” Buxton said.
On his first homer, Buxton took Patrick Corbin’s cutter into opposite field and queued his signature “Buck Truck” celebration as he trotted around the basepath with his team up 1-0.
The hit got not just Buxton energized, but the whole team as Corbin continued to get mauled by the Twins bats. One homer is enough for Buxton though, right?
Incorrect.
In the fifth inning, Buxton boomed another ball across the wall with Carlos Correa coming in from first. The homer marked Buxton’s first multi-homer game since July 21, 2023, against the White Sox.
A performance like such coming soon after injury is encouraging for Buxton as he hopes to make it through the season generally healthy for once.
In prior seasons, Buxton’s injury plague has forced 2017 to be the last time the 6-foot-2 outfielder played in at least 100 games. Despite this, Buxton is on the books for 7 years, $100 million after avoiding arbitration in 2022.
In that campaign, Buxton’s value was clear as he boasted a 4 WAR. That value has been in question as he has put forth a .8 and .6 WAR in the following seasons, respectively.
After a big game over the Nats, though, Buxton could be turning back the clock and proving his worth as the season continues.
Another year, another injury for MLBbro Byron Buxton.
Minnesota Twins fans had nightmare flashbacks when their former All-Star center fielder left the game with soreness in his right knee, aggravated by an attempted steal of second base.
Buxton would slow down midway through the attempted theft and was gunned down and had to leave the game.
This was not a good sign for a ball club who just had two key players in Carlos Correa and Jhoan Duran return to the lineup only to lose another.
Big Bux Is Always Hurt: Minnesota Not The Same Without Him
A recurring theme in his career, the MLBbro has often battled with injuries. Since he has been playing for the Twins in 2015, their record with him is 380-318.
The team is 317-371 without him, which shows how crucial he has been to overall team success during his tenure. Buxton’s issue has never been his play on the field, it’s the ability to be on the field consistently.
Manager Rocco Baldelli did not want to focus on the injury, having faith that it will be minor and not detrimental to Buxton’s overall health and long-term availability. The team got a much needed off day on Thursday which gave them time to get some imaging done on his knee.
Buxton signed a 7-year/ $100,000,000 contract with the Minnesota Twins back in 2021. It included a $1,000,000 signing bonus and $100,000,000 guaranteed.
The front office of the Twins would not be wrong to be somewhat frustrated with the Buxton experience. Last year the team went as far as to play him more often at DH to avoid injury chances, but still there was some damage done and as a result in October of last year he underwent a knee procedure.
To add literal insult to injury, MLB umpire Rob Drake was noticeably seen yelling at the MLBbro to get off the field after it was very apparent that he had been hurt.
This presumably led to Buxton declining comment after the game. Overall, this was a rough experience for not only the MLBbro, but the entire Twins’ fan base. Hopefully the knee injury is minor, and Buxton can return soon.
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