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Minnesota Twins Buxton could (and will) change their season

By Wayne Cavadi

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There is certainly a changing of the guard in Major League Baseball. MiLB.com has coined it the Year of the Prospect, while we here at Grading on the Curve have been calling it the Year of the Rookie. Whatever clever name you would like to call the 2015 season, know it just got even bigger.

With Kris Bryant, Carlos Correa and Addison Russell already called up earlier this season, Francisco Lindor and Byron Buxton remained as the top prospects in baseball. That will officially end today as both Buxton and Lindor are set to make their Major League debuts. That makes 11 big league debuts out of the top 20 of the Preseason Grading on the Curve Top 50 prospect list. And it’s not even July.

What does it mean for Major League Baseball? Well, for one, it means Minor League sites like our own will be very hard at work scrambling for a new Top 50 prospect list. But for baseball, it shows that the teams that have been consistently losing for the past few years have also been making the right draft choices. The Kansas City Royals showed that draft picks and patience will overcome, as they went to the World Series behind Billy Butler, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alex Gordon and a bevy of other draft picks. Maybe that will be the new trend in baseball. Maybe the teams like the Cubs, Twins and Astros are ready to enter a Golden Era of baseball. 

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What does it mean for the Minnesota Twins? It means that Twins fans can collectively breath a sigh of relief. Buxton — who was Minor League baseball’s most decorated player in 2013 — had a nightmare 2014 season. Three separate injuries pretty much made Buxton’s season a wash. People knew the talent was there, the question know became how long will it take the 21-year old prospect to rebound and get to the Majors.

Some originally felt that it would take him all season in the Minors to prove he could stay healthy, because the reality was, coming into 2015 Buxton had played one game in his career above the Class A level. Well this isn’t the Minnesota Twins teams of yesteryear. These are the new Paul Molitor led Twins and they need a spark plug.

The Twins were surprising a lot of people by playing solid baseball. They were even in first place a week ago in June until their current 5 game losing streak began. Buxton has the game changing ability to rally the troops and right the ship. And he’s just the first of many.

Buxton is a 5-tool player. Though his power is minimal, he can still hit home runs. His speed and base running prowess make him an asset at the top of the order as he is an extra base and run scoring machine. In his Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year 2013 season, Buxton lit up the box scores with 19 doubles, 18 triples, 12 home runs, 109 runs scored and 55 stolen bases. That was the healthy Byron Buxton that made him the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball heading into 2014 and was still No. 1 or 2 across the board this season, despite playing a whole 31 games last year.

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Buxton already had a Player of the Week Award under his belt this season in Chattanooga. He has already put up astonishing numbers in not even a half season worth of work: 7 doubles, 6 home runs, a Southern League leading 12 triples and 44 runs, while going 20-for-22 in stolen bases. You want someone that will invigorate a lineup, I give you Byron Buxton.

Will this make the Twins a playoff lock? Absolutely not, but they were already ahead of the curve. Buxton brings them one step closer, as Miguel Sano highlights a group of talented youngsters eagerly awaiting their big league debut.

The Twins have been quietly rebuilding for the past few seasons. Buxton has the game changing ability to bring them to the next level, and will open the door for Sano, Jose Berrios, Kohl Stewart and Alex Meyer and end that playoff drought a whole lot sooner than anyone expected.

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