Minnesota Sports Forum

longstrangetrip wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:I don't pay a ton of attention to the Twins, but do keep an eye on box scores from time to time. Where is Buxton at these days? Has he been sent back to the minors?

Buxton was sent down a couple weeks ago after a dreadful start at the plate. His speed makes him a true game changer in the outfield and on the basepaths, but his inability to recognize pitches led to strikeouts in nearly 50% of his ABs this season. It's heartening to see he is hitting over .300 in his first 10 games in Rochester, but he's still striking out too much. I hope he figures it out soon.

Thanks for the update. I guess it's a little concerning since this guy was considered the #1 prospect in baseball. I don't follow baseball close enough to understand the typical player maturity/improvement curve. I know in the NBA that after 3-5 years and/or by ~ age 25, you sort of are what you are, with only incremental refinements and improvements thereafter before old age kicks in.

Is there still time for this guy to be an absolute 5-tool stud or should we be getting a little worried?

I actually think it was unfair to Buxton when he was painted as a 5-tool player...you could see early that he was never going to be a consistent power hitter. But he was so elite in the other 4 tools in the minors that he still deserved the #1 prospect reputation. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to even achieve mediocrity in the majors in perhaps the most important tool...hitting for average. There's no question that he runs, fields and throws at an elite level, but his ceiling is going to be Willie Mays Hayes if he doesn't learn how to tell the difference between a fast ball and a slider.

Should we be worried? Yeah, I think so. A year ago, Sano, Buxton and Rosario looked like Wiggins, Towns and LaVine. But while the Wolves Big 3 more or less lived up to their promise last season, the Twins 3 big hitting prospects have struggled to various degrees. Their performance has been the equivalent of KAT averaging 12 and 6, Wig only getting spot minutes off the bench, and Zach getting sent to the D-League. Imagine the despair here if that was the case!

Yikes!

(note to self: continue to keep an emotional arm's length distance from Twins).

Eh I don't think it's that bad. I think people got a little too excited and expected these guys to just blow up right away and Buxton was billed as a can't miss type. Keep in mind a guy like Torii Hunter or Calos Gomez took a while to figure thinks out and they were not considered the prospects (especially Torii) that Buxton was/is. Honestly the guy that's been the bigger disappointment to me is Murphy. He was actually primed to at worst be as good or bad as Suzuki and he has struggled big time. He wasn't a super prospect but when acquired seemed to be a guy that would project as decent catcher going forward. It's still early and he hasn't really hootenanny many opportunities but it's not good so far. Hicks is pretty much in the same boat in NY so at least there is that.

It's not that bad because of a couple positives...Mauer's bounce-back year and the emergence of Park and Berrios. But I think my analogy of the progress of our three best hitting prospects compared to the progress of the Wolves' Big 3 is sadly right on:

Sano is hitting about .250 with 3 HRs...not terrible, but not at all what we expect from a former top 3 prospect. I think his stats are a lot like KAT putting up 12 and 6:

Buxton has been sent down...again. He was recently the #1 prospect in baseball, so that's like Wig getting sent down to the D-League.

After a promising start last year, Rosario spends most of his time on the bench now. That's the equivalent of Zach not being able to get into the rotation.

Sad, but unfortunately quite accurate.

monsterpile wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:I don't pay a ton of attention to the Twins, but do keep an eye on box scores from time to time. Where is Buxton at these days? Has he been sent back to the minors?

Buxton was sent down a couple weeks ago after a dreadful start at the plate. His speed makes him a true game changer in the outfield and on the basepaths, but his inability to recognize pitches led to strikeouts in nearly 50% of his ABs this season. It's heartening to see he is hitting over .300 in his first 10 games in Rochester, but he's still striking out too much. I hope he figures it out soon.

Thanks for the update. I guess it's a little concerning since this guy was considered the #1 prospect in baseball. I don't follow baseball close enough to understand the typical player maturity/improvement curve. I know in the NBA that after 3-5 years and/or by ~ age 25, you sort of are what you are, with only incremental refinements and improvements thereafter before old age kicks in.

Is there still time for this guy to be an absolute 5-tool stud or should we be getting a little worried?

I actually think it was unfair to Buxton when he was painted as a 5-tool player...you could see early that he was never going to be a consistent power hitter. But he was so elite in the other 4 tools in the minors that he still deserved the #1 prospect reputation. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to even achieve mediocrity in the majors in perhaps the most important tool...hitting for average. There's no question that he runs, fields and throws at an elite level, but his ceiling is going to be Willie Mays Hayes if he doesn't learn how to tell the difference between a fast ball and a slider.

Should we be worried? Yeah, I think so. A year ago, Sano, Buxton and Rosario looked like Wiggins, Towns and LaVine. But while the Wolves Big 3 more or less lived up to their promise last season, the Twins 3 big hitting prospects have struggled to various degrees. Their performance has been the equivalent of KAT averaging 12 and 6, Wig only getting spot minutes off the bench, and Zach getting sent to the D-League. Imagine the despair here if that was the case!

Yikes!

(note to self: continue to keep an emotional arm's length distance from Twins).

Eh I don't think it's that bad. I think people got a little too excited and expected these guys to just blow up right away and Buxton was billed as a can't miss type. Keep in mind a guy like Torii Hunter or Calos Gomez took a while to figure thinks out and they were not considered the prospects (especially Torii) that Buxton was/is. Honestly the guy that's been the bigger disappointment to me is Murphy. He was actually primed to at worst be as good or bad as Suzuki and he has struggled big time. He wasn't a super prospect but when acquired seemed to be a guy that would project as decent catcher going forward. It's still early and he hasn't really hootenanny many opportunities but it's not good so far. Hicks is pretty much in the same boat in NY so at least there is that.

It's not that bad because of a couple positives...Mauer's bounce-back year and the emergence of Park and Berrios. But I think my analogy of the progress of our three best hitting prospects compared to the progress of the Wolves' Big 3 is sadly right on:

Sano is hitting about .250 with 3 HRs...not terrible, but not at all what we expect from a former top 3 prospect. I think his stats are a lot like KAT putting up 12 and 6:

Buxton has been sent down...again. He was recently the #1 prospect in baseball, so that's like Wig getting sent down to the D-League.

After a promising start last year, Rosario spends most of his time on the bench now. That's the equivalent of Zach not being able to get into the rotation.

Sad, but unfortunately quite accurate.

I think it's a little different in that it tends to take longer for baseball players to find themselves. Besides at what point of the season did Zach find himself this year? I like the parallel you are going for I just don't think it's quite fair given Buxton and Sano don't even have a full season of MLB experience and both guys had some injuries that may have been a factor in derailing their positive momentum. Regardless the way things are going it seems we are gonna see slot of young guys playing for this team this year sooner rather than later. This minor league thread will be a Majpr league thread. Lol