Buxton makes Statcast history as breakout continues

MINNEAPOLIS -- Even when Byron Buxton isn’t able to play defense, he’s still able to perform jaw-dropping feats on the baseball diamond -- and, in a 6-0 victory over the Red Sox at Target Field on Thursday, his continued turnaround at the plate came with a heaping side of Statcast history.

What better sign that a hitter might be emerging from a deep slump than when he can crush homers of 466 feet and 465 feet in consecutive plate appearances?

Buxton’s siege on Target Field’s upper deck made him the first hitter in the Statcast era (since 2015) to hit multiple homers of 460 feet or longer in one game, with his first-inning blast off Red Sox opener Justin Garza and his third-inning shot off rookie left-hander Brandon Walter showcasing the prodigious, game-changing power for which the Twins have patiently waited.

“The way he hits the ball when he hits it flush, it’s unlike very many people anywhere in the world, in this game,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The ball explodes off the bat. It’s almost like going to the driving range. I mean that. That’s what it looks like when he connects the way that he can.”

And, in fact, only four other players had even crushed multiple 450-foot homers in a game -- a lesser version of Buxton’s feat on Thursday -- during the Statcast era: Austin Riley, Willson Contreras, Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story.

That’s the kind of power that nobody else on this roster has given the Twins this season, as Buxton’s pair of blasts also marked the two longest homers by any Minnesota hitter in 2023 -- and Buxton is also number three on the list, with his 453-foot blast against the Royals on April 30.

“Those are impressive, man,” said Carlos Correa, who also homered in the first inning. “He's a monster. He's a beast. It's good to see him back in his usual form and ready to go. It's going to be a great road trip for him.”

They’re also the second-longest and third-longest homers of his career, behind only the 469-foot, walk-off blast he hit off Liam Hendriks at Target Field last April 24.

Everyone is captivated by Buxton’s shows of power -- except for the man himself.

“They all count the same, so if they go over, they all feel good,” Buxton said. “It doesn't matter as long as we win.”

It’s all the more encouraging for the Twins as a group because Buxton had been mired in a deep 0-for-24 slump with 14 strikeouts for much of the last month, spanning a stint on the injured list for bruised ribs after he was struck by a fastball on June 1. He has been a streaky hitter as he has leaned more into his power over the years -- but when he’s hot, few players have higher highs.

Buxton has now collected extra-base hits in three consecutive games to shake off that slump, including a homer as part of a two-hit effort on Tuesday and a double on Wednesday before his two awe-inspiring blasts on Thursday. It might still be too soon to declare this a full-blown hot streak -- but it was certainly a jaw-dropping show of power.

“Sticking to my routine, to my approach, getting out of my own head,” Buxton said. “If you get out of your own head, you tend to do a lot more better things. For me, it's letting go of those last three days, four days, whatever it was, and turning that page.”