Byron Buxton embracing simplified approach to 2017 Twins season

NEW PRAGUE, MINN. -- By Byron Buxton's reckoning, 2016 was the most aggravating, unsettling season of his professional career. Yet he was a little sorry to see it end.

That's what happens when line drives start to fall in, when fly balls start to carry over the fence, when strikeouts don't corrode his confidence. The Twins gave their top prospect three extended chances to establish himself in the major leagues last year, but he fizzled in April; floundered in June and July; and was so fed up by the time he returned in September, he forswore his over-plotted, sometimes paralyzing, approach at the plate.

Best decision he ever made.

"September was a month I just told myself not to think about anything anymore. Just go out and have fun and play baseball," Buxton said Monday after a crowd-pleasing Twins winter caravan appearance, along with pitcher Trevor May and Twins Hall of Famer Tony Oliva, at the New Prague Knights of Columbus hall. "That's what I did, and that's when things started being a little more manageable for me to tolerate."

He had tolerated calamitous injuries and occasional slumps during his five minor league seasons, but never before had faced what he was encountering nearly every day in a Twins uniform: failure. Spirit-crushing failure.

"It was rough last year. I've never failed in my career, so it was very tough to start the year the way I did," Buxton told the lunchtime crowd in this small farming community about a 45-minute drive southwest of Target Field. "Just trying to keep my head focused on positive things was hard. It took me twice getting sent down to figure out, 'OK, I just need to relax.' Just stop worrying about, 'OK, my hands aren't in the right place, or something is wrong with [my stance].' "

Buxton is not the first phenom to stumble in the major leagues, particularly at such a young age. After all, he only turned 23 in December. Of his 469 career plate appearances, only one has come against a pitcher younger than him, a strikeout against 22-year-old Seattle righthander Edwin Diaz.

His forget-it-all attitude, though, delivered a September to remember.

In his first at-bat upon his recall, Buxton smashed a curveball from White Sox All-Star lefthander Jose Quintana into Target Field's second deck. He collected two hits the next day, then three more, with a home run, the day after that. Then came three more hits, including his first grand slam.

"You could tell [the difference]. I was having fun, the team started to have fun, and we started hitting better," Buxton said. Before that outburst, "One strikeout would lead to another, and another, and by then, it was me getting sent down to Triple-A. The only way for me to come out and showcase anything was to come out and have fun. I did as much as I could in September."

It was plenty. Buxton, who had three home runs in his career to that point, walloped nine more after Sept. 1, including an inside-the-park homer off Chris Sale on the first pitch of the season finale against the White Sox. He doubled his career RBI total from 22 to 44. He drew 10 walks and posted a .357 on-base percentage, slugged .653 to give him an OPS of 1.011 for the final month, and while he also whiffed 38 times in 29 games, he kept them from becoming epidemic.

"My mind wasn't wandering anymore — 'Uh-oh, I struck out this many times,' " Buxton said. "It was more like, 'OK, whatever. One strikeout isn't going to hurt anything. Just keep playing.' "