Twins star outfielder Byron Buxton joined the GoMN: One Hunnit Podcast to talk about clinching a playoff berth and a whole lot more. Listen right here or read the Q&A below.
You’re in the playoffs now, are you feeling the pressure?
“Hey, we still gotta go out there and take care of business and just keep doing what we’re doing. We’re out there having a lot of fun.”
What is it like to score on a single from first base?
“It’s kind of indescribable. You kind of just feel like you’re floating. I remember turning around second base and it felt like my feet weren’t even touching the dirt, I was just gliding. It’s a weird feeling to try to describe, but once you get to home plate and you realize what you’ve just done, you just get a rush coming through your veins. You get the chills, you’re pumped.”
What’s it like batting against Yankees ace Luis Severino?
Great pitcher. Goes out there and competes every pitch, and he’s got good stuff. It’s all about getting up there and making sure you’re comfortable and not letting that moment eat you up. You gotta be yourself and have a quality at-bat, and battle.
What’s it like batting against Aroldis Chapman’s 100 mph fastballs?
“It’s actually not as bad as you think. It’s Chapman, so you get a little edge about yourself like, ‘alright, I’ve been wanting to see this.’ Once you get in there you get a different type of confidence, like you’re just ready to attack the fastball.”
Any talks in the Twins’ clubhouse about kneeling during the national anthem?
“No, not really. I haven’t really looked too far upon that. I know what we have at task, we’ve been staying in our moment, staying in our zone. We know that we’ve got a job to do, so that allows us to not really break up the team and divide it. It’s actually bringing us more together to go out there and take care of business.
Ervin Santana said you guys are playing pressure-free baseball. Is that true?
“We haven’t felt any pressure. We’ve been coming out here every day, taking it one day at a time. Just trying to have the most fun we can and be the best we can be that day. When you do those things, it doesn’t allow you to look ahead and worry about who’s behind us, who’s in front of us. It allows us to stay in our moment, take care of our business and then we do whatever we need to do.”
What did it feel like when you were red hot at the plate?
“It feels good. You’ve got control of your at-bat, everything seems to be perfect with your swing. You’re comfortable, you’re confident. Especially with the way I started the season off, I made sure as I was on that little stretch that I wanted to contribute more to the team. So that made me not worry about what the pitcher was going to throw or what they’re trying to do to me. I just focused on seeing the ball and hitting the ball, and trying to get on base for my teammates to drive me in.”
You’ve changed your swing like three times, what change helped you the most?
“More so probably when I figured out how to use my legs. Once I started to use my legs instead of using all upper body to swing, that’s when walks started coming, I started laying off those sliders breaking away. That made the game slow down a whole lot more for me. That was definitely one of the biggest turning points. Once you realize how to use your legs along with your upper body, and not try to do to much with the bat, that slows the ball down, slows the game down and allows you to go out there and be yourself.”
