SEATTLE — Byron Buxton hit a bunch of home runs into the T-Mobile Park seats on Wednesday, albeit about four hours before the game actually began. Once it did, the Twins' designated hitter and his 0-for-22 slump remained off the field for a second straight day.
Twins DH Byron Buxton sits out again as he tries to solve an 0-for-22 hitting slump
After taking batting practice at T-Mobile Park before the Mariners, he said, "I'm still trying to figure it out."
July 20, 2023 at 11:26AM
Which only compounded his time-killing problem.
"I'm still trying to figure it out," Buxton said of the long stretches of free time that a DH must fill between at-bats. "I don't know yet. I probably spend too much time in the [batting] cage. It's not like old-school. You've got guys that go in and play a PlayStation, guys that go in there and put on their headphones and listen to music, or whatever. So it's a little bit different."
What he's trying not to do is think. Ponder. Contemplate. Obsess. But that's not easy when your most recent hit is 10 days in the past.
"I mean, I'm probably overthinking it a little bit, so [a couple days off] makes sense," Buxton said. "Just trying to get back to being who I am."
He's not a .196 hitter, Buxton insists, not the strikeout-choked automatic out that his recent stats make him out to be. He's mentally strong enough to get through it, and was smiling and in a good mood as he discussed his slump.
"You kind of just look up one day and go, 'This is, uh — I haven't really felt first base in a while,' " Buxton said. "I know it's a struggle, but I'll get over it."
The outdoor batting practice, under the purview of the Twins' trio of hitting coaches, helped, he said. Buxton said with their advice, he has pinpointed the problem with his swing.
"Just trying to stay through the ball a little bit more, getting back into my legs. When things don't go well, I tend to get a little bit more upper-body, and more rotational," he explained. "My lower half doesn't really work around, and it feels a little bit disconnected."
Despite the series of slumps — Buxton has endured five different hitless streaks of 17 or more plate appearances this year — Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he has no plans to reduce Buxton's playing time. His 28 extra-base hits are second-most on the team behind Carlos Correa's 34, after all.
"We just decided we wanted to give him another day off. Make it a two-day break," Baldelli said. "I would expect him in the lineup tomorrow."
Credit the opponent
If Pablo López commands the strike zone during his start on Thursday afternoon and pitches the Twins to victory, López knows who he'll credit.
His opponent.
"I'm a big fan of George Kirby. He throws a ton of strikes. He challenges everyone with everything," López said. "If I see him on the mound [Thursday], challenging hitters and not walking anybody, I'm going to try to do the same."
López said he made it a point during last week's All-Star festivities to have a couple of long conversations with the Mariners' righthander, who he has watched pitch several times because so many of their games are still going on after the Twins' game has ended.
"He said he would rather give up a base hit than a walk, which is a good mentality," López said. "Challenging them, make them earn their way on the bases, rather than putting them there for free, just because you're picking at the strike zone."
It's advice López hopes to follow. Kirby has walked only 11 batters in 112 innings, and only once has walked two batters in a game, giving him a 0.9 walks-per-nine-innings ratio, best in the major leagues. López has walked 33 batters in 116 innings, and only twice this year has not issued a walk during a start.
"He makes it a competitive edge, and I'd like to have that, too," López said. "It's funny that it worked out that we're lined up to pitch against each other, but that makes it fun."
Saints defeat Omaha
The St. Paul Saints scored four runs in the fifth inning to break open the game, sparked by Mark Contreras' two-run homer, and they beat the Omaha Storm Chasers 9-4 Wednesday night in Papillion, Neb. Starting pitcher Louie Varland allowed two runs on five hits while striking out three in six innings. Varland (4-0) has allowed just six earned runs in 20 innings.
Etc.
- Kyle Farmer has been wearing a Kirby Puckett T-shirt in the Twins' clubhouse lately, and said he has an unusual connection to the Hall of Fame former Twin. "Our pitching coach at Marist [High School in Atlanta] was Charlie Leibrandt," who allowed Puckett's most famous home run, the We'll-See-You-Tomorrow-Night game-winner in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, Farmer said. "I texted him a picture of me wearing this shirt. He didn't answer."
- Speaking of Hall of Famers, another former Twin now holds that honor. Randy Bass, who was drafted by the Twins in 1972 and appeared in nine games for them in 1977, was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, the first American-born player to be so honored. Bass, now 69, hit 202 home runs in six seasons with Hanshin in the 1980s, and has a career .337 average and 1.078 OPS in the Japanese league.
- Righthander Jose De Leon, who pitched 17 1/3 innings over 12 appearances for the Twins this year, underwent successful elbow surgery Wednesday in Rochester, the second Tommy John surgery of his career.
Shohei Ohtani won his third Most Valuable Player Award and first in the National League, and Aaron Judge earned his second American League honor on Thursday.
