With only three days left in the MLB regular season the American League Wild Card race is still crowded.
The American League Central Division has been a surprisingly competitive division this year, with all of the young teams in the division taking a major leap. In the final months leading to the end of the season the Detroit Tigers have come on strong and placed themselves in a great position for October baseball.
The Minnesota Twins’ playoff hopes are fading away after an 8-6 loss to the Miami Marlins on Thursday.
Minny stands three games out of the final wildcard spot with three games remaining against Wild Card leader Baltimore.
And for that to happen they must rely on the MLBbro pairing of Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis.
Byron Buxton has been the most important t piece of the Twins’ success for years. Constant battles against injuries have always limited his ability to help the team and this year has been no different, but he is available when it matters most this year.
Buxton homered on Wednesday night and helped the team to an 8-3 win, but he will need to come up big in the last three games of the season.
The Orioles have already clinched a playoff spot so the Twins should be hungrier and more assertive in their matchup. He will need his MLBbro teammate to do the same.
Royce Lewis, the utility stud for the Minnesota Twins, is in an absolute slump. With a batting average under .220 in September, and only one home run all month he has been disappointing in the stretch run.
However, if he can come up clutch in this final series then he can make u for it in October. If Lewis can’t contribute then the Twins will not have a chance at October baseball, something that is what the team has been striving for.
The MLBbro has battled with his own injuries this year but he is healthy now, and if he does not deliver now there will be no later for this season.
Minnesota fans are optimistic that Lewis and Buxton will come up big at home. A sweep would be great, but they should aim to at minimum win the three-game series to bolster their postseason hopes.
The Minnesota Twins are in a very tight American League Wild Card race, and it is more important than ever that all their players are performing. One player that they need to get back into form is MLBbro Royce Lewis.
His offensive production for most of the season has helped to get the team competitive. On the season, the third baseman/designated hitter has batted .258 with 15 home runs. However, in the past two weeks he is batting under .200 with zero bro bombs.
Byron Buxton’s Injury Streak Continues: Royce Lewis Falling Behind In Counts
While the Twins are currently uncertain about the status of MLBbro center fielder Byron Buxton, they must rely on who is available. Royce Lewis is a key part of the team and integral to the potency of the heart of their lineup in Minnesota.
While he has struggled with injuries himself this season when available he has delivered until recently. A major reason he has struggled recently is due to falling behind at the plate. On the season Lewis is .306 when ahead in the count, and a measly .158 when behind. Working the count and being more selective with his swings will help him return to form.
The Twins currently have a three-game lead for the last wild card spot, but nothing is promised at this part of the season. They have lost eight of their last ten games and trending in the wrong direction.
Someone must step up for the team and Royce is a good candidate.
He has all the tools to help right the ship, and the team will desperately need him to return to form. He’s been known to carry a team for weeks. Not only to secure the wild card spot, but also to actually compete if they make it to the postseason. The team has a three-game home stand against the Toronto Blue Jays before two consecutive road series. The MLBbro bats 100 points higher at home so there is no better time to regain his confidence than now.
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.
Aaron Judge has put up video game numbers through the first half of 2024. He became the first player to reach 30 home runs and 75 RBI and has exceeded the pace he set in all major hitting categories from his record breaking 2022 MVP year. The King of New York sits atop of the #HighFive throne for Week 13.
1. Aaron Judge
The gap between Aaron Judge and the rest of Major League Baseball becomes more and more laughable by the day. His average, OPS, and extra base hit total far exceed the competition and he is outdoing himself compared to his MVP season in 2022.
Through his first 81 games he has 15 more RBI and 11 more doubles to go along with a higher batting, OBP, slugging and OPS.
In game two of Wednesday’s Subway Series Judge hit his 30th home run of the year.
That gives him four homers in his last seven games with a slash line of .429/.538/1.048 with 13 RBI and three walks.
With his bash bro Giancarlo Stanton out with an injury for at least a month, the Yankees need Judge to stay in his mode so they can hold off the Orioles from taking first place in the American League East.
2. Josh Naylor
Josh Naylor added to his resume for the position of starting first baseman at the All-Star Game with a pair of multi-hit games this week, including a three-hit performance Sunday afternoon.
The Guardians have the highest winning percentage in the American League in large part to Naylor who ranks in the top five for RBI and home runs in the A.L. with 58 and 21 respectively.
He will continue making his case for his first All-Star appearance this weekend in the great state of Kansas during a four-game weekend series against the Royals.
3. “Black” Jack Flaherty
Jack Flaherty was on his game the entire month of June, posting a 3-0 record with a 0.57 ERA and only allowing one run in three starts ahead of taking the mound Thursday night against the Angels in his hometown of Los Angeles.
In his last start “Black Jack” went 5.2 innings and struck out eight, giving him 108 strikeouts on the year which puts him eighth amongst all Major League pitchers.
The sole earned run he gave up came on a solo homer.
On the year Flaherty has a 2.98 ERA in just over 83 innings.
Since he is only on a one-year deal, he could be a prime target when the trade deadline arrives, but with Detroit in contention for a playoff spot, it may be best to keep him for the stretch run and make him a permanent part of their rotation.
4. Byron Buxton
Slowly but surely, Byron Buxton is starting to put together a solid season, posting a .400 average and a 1.412 OPS over the last seven days. The Twins five-tool star hit homers in back-to-back games this week for the first time this season and has finally gotten his average over the .250 mark for the year.
I expect Buxton to continue his upward trend throughout the year. If he and Royce Lewis are both healthy and, in the lineup, Minnesota has a chance to contend this summer.
J.P. Crawford is another player who has begun to trend in a positive direction after an injury-filled beginning to 2024. Crawford has hits in eight of his last nine games including seven straight dating back to June 18th.
Over that seven-day stretch, he has a .314 average with two steals, five walks and four RBI. Although the Mariners may have the best pitching rotation in their lineup has continued to underachieve, even dating back to last season when they missed the playoffs by a single game.
Crawford needs to continue slugging for big hits and getting on base in order for Seattle to hold off the Astros and keep the top spot in the American League West.
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.
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