Molitor as curious about his young outfielders as rest of us

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Byron Buxton made a phenomenal catch in deepest center field at Hammond Stadium in the 2016 Twins' final Florida exhibition game on Thursday.

Presuming a healthy season, there could be so many of these this season that when Buxton uses his unreal speed to get to such a blast, stretches upward with his glove to snare the ball, and then sprawls on the warning track with the ball secure, visitors to Target Field will be saying:

"That was a pretty fair catch by Buck's standards.''

What also was encouraging was that right fielder Miguel Sano had moved into position in right center for a potential carom off the center field fence, and then kept chugging over to offer his amazed congratulations to Buxton for the catch.

The people who want to make a case for the Twins to be an also-ran in the American League Central are expressing much skepticism about Buxton's ability to handle major league pitching.

The Twins' pitchers are saying: "We don't give a flying burrito brother … we want Buck out there.''

Video: Watch Buxton's catch in center field

Manager Paul Molitor said last week: "We have an outfield here that if you add up their games out there, it doesn't equal a full season in the big leagues, so it will be interesting.''

Here are some other things that Molitor had to say about his young outfielders, in general, starting with a lineup that will have Sano hitting third rather than fourth, as he did after his arrival as a designated hitter last summer:

"I like the looks of that, with Brian [Dozier] and Joe [Mauer] at the top, and Miguel hitting third. I'm not one for set lineups, but I'm also not going to change it just to change.

"Sano is going to see a ton of pitches. That's been obvious again this spring. As he gets more experience here, you might want to see him expand the zone a little in certain situations.

"The other day, with two outs and nobody on, he took a walk on some close pitches …

"... And then Trevor Plouffe hit a two-run home run, so it worked out well.

"Barry Bonds was the all-timer in that area of taking pitches, I guess. He would get one pitch to hit every three days, but then he'd do damage with it.

"Miguel's not a bat snapper, but when he gets a pitch to hit and misses it, you can see that he's mad at himself.

"Rosario is completely different. He never met a pitch he didn't like. But he's also the most confident young hitter you're going to find. He knows he can hit.

"Buxton's results at the plate haven't been great this spring, but he does have a different look. He's laying off more pitchers, keeping his at-bats alive longer.