140 thoughts on “2015 Game 62: Buxton at Rangers”

  3. They're putting Buxton in the 9 spot to keep us all watching as long as possible.

    1. I appreciate it as it gave me enough time to mow the lawn before Buxton takes the field.

  5. I like this start.

    Also, this has to be the first double Nunez has hit where his helmet stayed on all the way to second base.

      1. Well, yeah, obviously. But I mean how long do they let him have a sub 300 slugging AND on base as everyday starter?

        2. He's a catcher, so as long as they like his defense, he doesn't need to do much offensively. Plus, with Pinto hurt, that leaves Herrmann and Fryer to replace him. No thanks.

    2. Probably pretty long yet. Herrmann will never be more than a backup. They don't really like Pinto because of his perceived poor defense, and he's hurt now anyway. Eric Fryer is hitting well in AAA, but it's 109 at-bats, he's 29, and his record would not indicate that he can sustain it. The main catcher at Chattanooga has been Stuart Turner, who's hitting .188. I don't see Suzuki losing the job any time soon.

      2. And I think that is exactly why they gave him a two-year extension. The catcher market is sparse and the minors are sparser yet.

  7. Buxton is so awesome that he got the Twins a 2-0 lead without even coming to bat!

  9. You know great things are expected when the announcers describe you coming out of the dugout to the on-deck circle.

  11. Well that was disappointing. Also, what's with the Rangers broadcast doing a human interest story during his debut? That is BS.

      1. I agree. I also think that Bert is right. Even if he's not walking people, his control is shaky. Two and three ball counts leading to a lot of "get it over the plate" pitches that get hammered.

  16. I wonder how long a leash Hughes has. Again, it's probably pretty long. He has the contract and he pitched very well last year. But Hughes has not been good this year, he does not seem to be getting better, and the Twins have a lot of guys who can be starting pitchers.

      2. I don't buy that hitters are that stupid and take that long to make an adjustment. It would take 5 seconds last year to look at his stats and see he's aggressively throwing strikes. I think just more of his strikes are more hittable even early in the count. What I've seen is his cutter has not been nearly as good as last year. He dominated lefties with that pitch last year and would freeze them with it on the outside corner. This year, it more often either doesn't break enough and stays outside or it drifts too far over the plate and gets hammered. He's also been unlucky on fly balls. His HR/FB rate is 12.4%, which would be tied for the highest of his career, which was mostly played with the launching pad of Yankee Stadium as his home ballpark. His xFIP this year is 4.15, which isn't good but not terrible and is better than his final three seasons with the Yankees.

        1. So you read the entire article, noted his process is the same, and decided that clearly didn't work so came up with your own rationale instead. The part that stuck out to me was that 2014 was the best case scenario for Hughes (e.g. luck went his way) and 2015 is what happens when the luck doesn't go your way.

  21. So it'll be two at-bats, no baserunners for Buxton. We'll get that "too few RBIs" Stribbie argument out of the way quickly at this rate.

    2. My first reaction was confusion when I heard the name. Then I realised it must be Junior. Then I was a little disheartened because I remember Senior.

      This is what it's like to get old, isn't it?

      1. Reminds me of the time it took Mike Redmond two hits to score from third. I think Bonderman was pitching.

        Or, more similarly, that time the White Sox got five straight batters on base and only scored one run in the inning. Was that 2004 or 2006?

  45. Please tell me that Keone Kela is from Hawaii, or at least a hippie commune in Cali.

  47. Phil Miller ‏@MillerStrib
    Also: Scoring only one run with three triples in an inning has never happened in the major leagues in the last 50 years, Elias says.

  48. I like Casey Fien getting two innings here, since I'm pretty sure that he's the best non-Perkins pitcher in the pen.

    2. I was fine with it. He's struck out twice. I wasn't surprised that they were looking to get him a positive at-bat in a tight situation. I normally wouldn't like to bunt with a runner already in scoring position, however. Hopefully, it was a help Buxton out decision and not a game strategy decision.

  53. "just pick one" should always be the answer for a guy getting called up, re: jersey number.

      1. said that Fien's inning facing the middle-of-the-order guys "was for me the save right there."

  68. Now that the puppies are out, I'm going to lie down. I was carrying ten expos pounds around on the ride this year.

      1. I think they call them dollars in Canuckia, not pounds. Easy mistake, what with all the French.

  69. Let's just point out that Buxton managed to get us a win in a game where he didn't have a hit. He's that good.

  71. Man, on that replay of the lineout DP, Dozier was half set up for the throw before his feet hit the ground. Just a great play.

  72. I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned that buxton's bunt was the key to the inning. I think we're slipping, folks.

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