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Byron Buxton

Byron Buxton
Buxton with the Minnesota Twins in 2016
Minnesota Twins – No. 25
Center fielder / Designated hitter
Born: (1993-12-18) December 18, 1993 (age 30)
Baxley, Georgia, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 14, 2015, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.244
Home runs133
Runs batted in353
Stolen bases93
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Byron Keiron Buxton (born December 18, 1993) is an American professional baseball center fielder and designated hitter for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Buxton was considered by some baseball analysts to be the most talented player available in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft, and was selected as the second overall pick. He won Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year Award in 2013. Buxton made his MLB debut in 2015.

Amateur career

Buxton started playing baseball when he was six years old.[1] He attended Appling County High School in Baxley, Georgia, where he played for the school's baseball, basketball and football teams. In his high school days, Buxton was given the nickname "Buck".[2] As a pitcher during his senior year, he had a 10–1 win–loss record with a 1.90 earned run average and 154 strikeouts in 81 innings pitched.[3] Buxton also threw a fastball that was recorded at 99 miles per hour (159 km/h).[4] His speed eventually led him to obtaining a well-above average speed rating of 70 as he left high school and readied for the draft.[5]

Scouts noticed Buxton when he was 15 years old. He was recruited to play on a traveling summer team.[6] He appeared in baseball showcases, including the East Coast Pro Showcase and Under Armour All-America Baseball Game.[1] As a senior in high school, Buxton hit for a .513 batting average with 38 stolen bases in 39 games.[7] Buxton committed to a college baseball scholarship with the University of Georgia, intending to attempt to walk on to the football team.[8]

Professional career

2012–2014

Considered a five-tool player,[6] MLB.com rated Buxton the best prospect available in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.[9] The Minnesota Twins selected Buxton with the second overall pick in the 2012 draft.[10] Buxton signed a contract with the Twins on June 12, 2012, that included a $6 million signing bonus.[11] He made his professional debut in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) with the Gulf Coast Twins of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League (GCL), where he batted .216 in 26 games.[12] Later in the year, he was promoted to the Elizabethton Twins of the Rookie-level Appalachian League, and batted .286 in 21 games.[12][13] He was named the top prospect in the GCL.[12]

Buxton started the 2013 season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Class A Midwest League.[14] After he batted .340 with eight home runs and 32 stolen bases to start the season, the Twins promoted Buxton to the Fort Myers Miracle of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in June.[15] By midseason, MLB.com, Keith Law of ESPN.com, and Baseball America viewed Buxton as the best prospect in baseball.[16][17][18] He represented the Twins at the All-Star Futures Game.[19] With Fort Myers, Buxton compiled a .326 average with four home runs, 22 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases.[20] After the season, Buxton was named the Midwest League Most Valuable Player.[21] He also won both the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award[22][23] and the Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award.[24]

The Twins invited Buxton to participate in spring training in 2014.[25] He injured his left wrist, spraining his pisotriquetral joint, while diving for a ball and opened the 2014 season on the disabled list.[26] He was activated on May 4, and assigned to Fort Myers.[27] After playing in five games with the Miracle, Buxton reinjured his wrist.[28] Buxton batted .240 in 30 games before receiving a promotion to the New Britain Rock Cats of the Class AA Eastern League on August 11.[29][30][31] In his first game with New Britain, on August 13, Buxton collided with fellow outfielder Mike Kvasnicka. Buxton was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a concussion.[29][32] The Twins shut Buxton down for the remainder of the regular season,[33] but assigned him to the Arizona Fall League after the season.[34]

2015–2017

Buxton batting for the Minnesota Twins in 2015

Despite his having missed the majority of the 2014 season, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus rated Buxton as the best prospect in baseball at the start of the 2015 season, and Baseball America named him the # 2 prospect in 2015.[35][36][37] Buxton opened the 2015 season with the Twins' new Class AA affiliate, the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League.[38] The Twins promoted Buxton to make his major-league debut on June 14.[39] He scored the game-winning run in his debut.[40] Buxton recorded his first hit, a triple, in his second game.[41] After playing in ten games, Buxton sprained his thumb and went on the disabled list.[42] The Twins activated Buxton from the disabled list on August 10 and optioned him to the Rochester Red Wings of the Class AAA International League, due to the strong play of Aaron Hicks.[43] In the major leagues, in 2015 while striking out 44 times in 129 at bats he hit .209/.250/.326 and stole two bases in four attempts.[44]

Buxton began the 2016 season as the Twins' starting center fielder. However, he batted .156 in 17 games, while striking out in 53% of his at bats, and was optioned to Rochester on April 25.[45] He was called up again during mid season and remained at center field. He finished batting .225/.284/.430 with 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts while striking out 118 times in 298 at bats.[44] According to Statcast, Buxton led MLB in average sprint speed at 30.8 feet per second, after tying with Jarrod Dyson for the lead in the previous season.[46]

Buxton was once again the Twins opening day center fielder to begin the 2017 season. He was batting just .219 at the start of August.[47] On August 18, he was safe at home on the fastest inside-the-park home run ever recorded by Statcast, circling the bases in 13.85 seconds.[48] On August 27, Buxton hit three home runs against the Toronto Blue Jays.[49] He hit .324 in August with eight home runs and eight stolen bases.[50] For the season, he batted .253/.314/.413 with 29 stolen bases in 30 attempts, while striking out 150 times in 462 at bats.[44] He won a Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award for all major league fielders, as well as for center field, given to the top defensive player in the major leagues at each position.[51] He also won a Fielding Bible Award,[52] a Rawlings Gold Glove Award,[53] and the Platinum Glove Award for the American League.[54] He again led MLB in sprint speed, at 30.5 feet per second.[55]

2018–present

Buxton's 2018 season got off to a sloppy start, as he spent some stints on the disabled list due to a toe injury and migraines. On July 2, he was activated from the disabled list, but also optioned to Triple-A Rochester.[56] In the majors, he batted .156/.183/.200 while striking out 28 times in 90 at bats, and stole five bases without being caught.[44] The Twins opted not to promote Buxton to the major leagues during September call-ups, a decision that Buxton said, "didn't go over well."[57] He yet again led MLB in sprint speed, again at 30.5 feet per second.[58]

On April 22, 2019, Buxton's streak of 33 stolen bases was ended after he was caught stealing by Robinson Chirinos of the Houston Astros. In 2019, Buxton batted .262 and had the fastest sprint speed of all American League players, at 30.3 feet/second.[59]

In the abbreviated 2020 Major League Baseball season, Buxton played 39 of Minnesota's 60 games, primarily missing time due to a shoulder injury sustained in late-August.[60] Despite the injury, Buxton had a successful season, including a career-high .577 slugging percentage.

Buxton was named the American League Player of the Month for April 2021, when he hit .426 with 8 home runs and 14 RBIs.[61]

On December 1, 2021, Buxton signed a seven-year, $100 million contract extension with the Twins.[62]

When Carlos Correa joined the Twins for the 2022 season, he and Buxton became the third pair of players picked first and second in the same draft to then play for one club.[63] On June 9, 2022, the trio of Luis Arráez, Buxton, and Correa each hit consecutive home runs off Gerrit Cole to open the bottom of the first inning versus the New York Yankees. Buxton then hit a three-run home run in the second inning.[64] In June 2022, Buxton hit his 44th home run since he had last grounded into a double play, which occurred on September 7, 2020, surpassing a record of 43 held by Matt Carpenter.[65] On July 5, 2022, Buxton started the first 8–5 triple play in major league history when he caught an A. J. Pollock fly ball at the wall in the bottom of the seventh inning versus the Chicago White Sox . Buxton threw to third baseman Gio Urshela, who tagged a retreating Yoán Moncada out at second base and stepped on the bag to retire Adam Engel.[66]

During 2023 spring training, Buxton was moved to being Twins primary DH in efforts to keep him in lineup for full season.[67] In 2024, he was moved back to center field.

Personal life

Buxton is from Baxley, Georgia, where he spent his adolescent years through high school.[8] His father, Felton, owns a trucking company, and his mother, Carrie, works in a school cafeteria.[13] Byron is one of their three children, one of whom, daughter Keva, is ten years Byron's junior.[68][8] Buxton's cousin, Dexter Carter, is a former NFL running back.[13]

Buxton began dating Lindsey Tillery in 2012.[68] She also attended Appling County High School, where she played softball, and was three years ahead of Buxton.[8] They married in 2016, and have three sons together: Their oldest, Brixton, was born in 2013,[68] their second, Blaze, in 2020,[69] and third son Baire in 2023.[70]

References

  1. ^ a b Rode, Nathan. "Draft: Buxton's Tools Put Baxley On The Draft Map". BaseballAmerica.com. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  2. ^ "Prospect Q&A: Don't pass the 'Buck' – MiLB.com News – The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  3. ^ "Byron Buxton's (Baxley, GA) Baseball Stats – MaxPreps". MaxPreps.com. April 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  4. ^ Chen, Albert (May 22, 2012). "Albert Chen: Prep star Byron Buxton the most talented, intriguing draft prospect". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  5. ^ Dykstra, Sam. "Minnesota Twins prospect Byron Buxton continues popping for Cedar Rapids Kernels". MiLB.com. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Who's No. 1? Byron Buxton brings four tools to Draft". MLB.com. November 19, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  7. ^ "Byron Buxton's (Baxley, GA) Baseball Stats – MaxPreps". MaxPreps.com. April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d Souhan, Jim (December 30, 2014). "Building a baseball star: Byron Buxton growing up fast; From humble beginnings in rural Georgia, Byron Buxton has turned into the Twins' best hope for a bright future". Star Tribune. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  9. ^ "MLB.com lines up Top 100 Draft prospects". MLB.com. May 1, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  10. ^ "Byron Buxton | Byron Buxton Profile | Byron Buxton Scouting Report 2012". Mymlbdraft.com. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  11. ^ "Twins' top pick Byron Buxton gets $6M bonus, topping Joe Mauer". CBS News. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  12. ^ a b c Neal III, La Velle E. (June 24, 2013). "Twins promote outfielder Buxton to Fort Myers". Star Tribune. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  13. ^ a b c Berardino, Mike (March 7, 2013). "Minnesota Twins grooming, nurturing young prospect Byron Buxton". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  14. ^ Powers, Tom (June 5, 2013). "Byron Buxton's first pro season, and Twins' first in Iowa, has the attention of Cedar Rapids". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  15. ^ "Report: Twins promote top prospect Byron Buxton to Fort Myers » Naples Daily News". Naplesnews.com. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  16. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (July 26, 2013). "With prospects coming to the forefront as the Deadline approaches, we re-rank the MLB.com Top 100 | MLB.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
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  19. ^ "Twins prospect Byron Buxton among future stars blessed with poise | twinsbaseball.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. July 14, 2013. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
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  21. ^ Marinis, Dan (August 30, 2013). "Buxton earns spot among MWL stars | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Milb.com. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
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  24. ^ "Buxton wins Spink Award as top player". MiLB.com. October 22, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  25. ^ Berardino, Mike (January 8, 2014). "Twins' spring invitees: Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Alex Meyer". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  26. ^ Miller, Phil. "Buxton likely to miss start of season | 6–4–3". Star Tribune. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  27. ^ "Buxton activated from 7-day DL, will join Fort Myers « Bollinger Beat". Bollingerbeat.mlblogs.com. June 19, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  28. ^ Snyder, Matt (May 11, 2014). "Top prospect Byron Buxton re-injures wrist". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
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  34. ^ "Twinsights: Byron Buxton heads Twins contingent for Arizona Fall League". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  35. ^ "2015 Top 100 Prospects". Baseball America. February 20, 2015.
  36. ^ Short, D. J. (January 31, 2015). "MLB.com names Byron Buxton as baseball's top prospect for second straight year". HardballTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  37. ^ Mason, Tyler (February 9, 2015). "Byron Buxton tops Baseball Prospectus prospect list, eight Minnesota Twins named". Fox Sports. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  38. ^ Paschall, David (April 7, 2015). "Half of Twins' top 10 prospects opening with Chattanooga Lookouts". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  39. ^ Baer, Bill (June 13, 2015). "The Twins are calling up Byron Buxton, baseball's #1 prospect, from Double-A". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
  40. ^ Bollinger, Rhett (June 14, 2015). "'It was amazing': Buxton scores winner in debut". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  41. ^ Cobb, David (June 16, 2015). "Buxton legs out 3B for first Major League hit". MLB.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
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  44. ^ a b c d Byron Buxton Stats | Baseball-Reference.com
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  47. ^ "Seven Twins who turned their seasons around". StarTribune.com. September 14, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  48. ^ Petriello, Mike (December 28, 2017). "The fastest Statcast running plays of 2017". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
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  50. ^ "Minnesota Twins relieved as MRI shows bruise for Byron Buxton". Espn.com. August 31, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  51. ^ USA Today Sports (November 10, 2017). "Byron Buxton named Major League Baseball's defensive player of the year". USA Today. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  52. ^ "Byron Buxton's defensive excellence earns the outfielder his first Fielding Bible Award - 1500 ESPN Twin Cities". 1500espn.com. October 30, 2017. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  53. ^ Miller, Phil (November 8, 2017). "Finest in the field: Buxton, Dozier win Gold Glove awards". StarTribune.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  54. ^ Thornburg, Chad (January 20, 2016). "Twins' Byron Buxton wins AL Platinum Glove | MLB.com". M.mlb.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
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  57. ^ Buxton says lack of September call-up 'didn't go over well' - StarTribune.com
  58. ^ Statcast Sprint Speed Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com
  59. ^ "Statcast Sprint Speed Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com". Baseballsavant.mlb.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  60. ^ Park, Do-Hyoung (August 20, 2020). "Twins place Buxton, Garver on injured list". MLB.com. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  61. ^ "Byron Buxton named American League Player of the Month". WJCL. May 5, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  62. ^ Park, Do-Hyoung (December 1, 2021). "LIVE: Buxton talks Twins extension". MLB.como. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  63. ^ "Top picks Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton join forces in Minnesota".
  64. ^ Schad, Chris (June 9, 2022). "Watch: Twins smash back-to-back-to-back homers off Gerrit Cole to open rubber game with Yankees". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  65. ^ Langs, Sarah (June 13, 2022). "Buxton's power-speed combo puts him in record books". MLB.com. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  66. ^ Scott, Jelani (July 5, 2022). "Twins turn first 8–5 triple play in MLB history". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  67. ^ Harrison, Jonathan (March 22, 2023). "Twins to use Byron Buxton as designated hitter". Sports Illustrated Minnesota Sports, News, Analysis, and More. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  68. ^ a b c Berardino, Mike (January 25, 2014). "Twins prospect Byron Buxton a natural as a father, too". Twin Cities. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  69. ^ @morsecode (July 3, 2020). "Congrats to Byron and Lindsey Buxton on the birth of their second child - a healthy baby boy!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  70. ^ Nightengale, Bobby (July 28, 2023). "Byron Buxton comes off paternity list as Twins send Trevor Larnach back to St. Paul". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
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