DETROIT – Outfielder Byron Buxton, ranked as the second-best prospect in baseball at the start of the season, was in the Twins' Opening Day lineup. Righthander Jose Berrios, ranked 26th overall and ninth among pitchers, debuted April 27.
Both are now down in Class AAA Rochester to work on flaws. Berrios is the most recent demotion, which happened after he gave up seven runs in two-thirds of an inning Monday in a 10-8 loss to the Tigers.
With the Twins entering Tuesday with a 10-27 record, it would seem their chances at a winning season have been dashed. So why not allow Buxton and Berrios to stay up and learn how to produce in the major leagues?
"I'm not on the bandwagon about [it's a] lost season and let's get these players some major league experience," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "That doesn't make a lot of sense to me at this stage, and I don't think that anybody thinks that it is [all] lost. I think maybe some people on the outside do. And they could be proved to be right over time.
"I'm not going to let that kid [Berrios] keep going out there until he has a little better idea of what he's doing with the baseball. I just haven't seen it enough to make me think he is going to figure it out right now."
In four starts, Berrios was 1-1 with a 10.20 ERA. In 15 innings, he gave up 20 hits, five of them home runs, while walking 12 batters.
Buxton, who was sent down to Rochester on April 25, struggled to make contact, hit fly balls when he did and couldn't get on base to showcase his elite speed. He was batting .156 when he was sent down. He's batting .301 at Rochester, but on Tuesday missed his second consecutive game because of back spasms suffered Saturday and remains day-to-day.
Molitor was asked how the Twins weigh demoting a player vs. letting him figure things out while still in the majors.
