Byron Buxton's past as a bunter highlights a significant misjudgment by the Minnesota Twins regarding his potential. Despite his speed, Buxton has proven to be a power hitter, holding the record for the most home runs at Target Field.
Twins' Byron Buxton throwback points out huge flaw in past Minnesota thinking originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Sometimes, social media provides quite the time capsule.
Like, for example, when the Minnesota Twins wanted Byron Buxton to bunt more.
Buxton has always been fast, yes, but he always had prodigious power potential, too. That didn't stop the Twins from trying to make Buxton a bunter:
That post came to light when thanks to a new share, which points out that Buxton has the most home runs in the history of Target Field.
The 32-year old Buxton certainly has made the most of his time on the field, when healthy.
The only downside of Buxton's career hasn't been an inability to bunt, but rather an inability to stay healthy.
He has 169 career MLB home runs (and 117 steals).
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For those wondering, Buxton had 14 sacrifice bunts in his first five MLB seasons -- and he hasn't had a single one since 2019.
The Twins let him swing, as they should.
The classic idea of putting pressure on a defense -- well, Buxton does that just fine by swinging away with massive power and game-breaking speed on anything he hits in play.
But hey, bunting used to be fun. Baseball has changed quite a bit.
The Minnesota Twins mistakenly focused on making Byron Buxton a bunter instead of utilizing his power-hitting abilities.
Byron Buxton holds the record for the most home runs in the history of Target Field.
Byron Buxton's success as a power hitter suggests that he has significant offensive potential beyond just speed and bunting.
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