Byron Buxton has always threatened to be a Diet Trout, at least in the rare few minutes per season he’s been completely healthy. He might be the game’s best center fielder, and has flashed stardom at the plate. But something always went TWANG! on his body, and he hasn’t been able to put it together.
These first three weeks have been a glimpse into what still might be, as in just 11 games he’s put up 1.4 fWAR which has him only behind Ronald Acuña Jr. Yesterday in Oakland, it was all on display. FIrst in the bottom of the sixth, he made this catch/slice of thievery to preserve a Twins lead:
When the Twins were hellbent on blowing the lead anyway, he homered in the 10th to give them the lead again:
Of course, that wasn’t enough as the Twins infield replaced their gloves with live lobsters it seemed in the bottom of the 10th, and lost the game when Luis Arraez threw this baseball at some UFO only he could see:
It’s not been a great start for the Twins, but there is something refreshing about seeing Buxton finally not have his body let him down completely and become an unholy force. Should it continue, the Twins should be just fine.
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