In a recent dugout interview with Alex Tantum shared on TikTok, Harrison Bader was asked to name the most underrated player in baseball. Without hesitation, Bader went with Byron Buxton, and he didn’t stop there. “Best position player I’ve ever played with, hands down,” Bader said.
Tantum was almost taken back by the claim. “Wow. That’s high praise right there.” No kidding. He broke in to the majors with a Cardinals team led by Future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina, with Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado later coming aboard. From there he went to New York and played alongside some guy named Aaron Judge for a couple of partial seasons. He spent last season with the Mets, calling Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso teammates. Now he shares a clubhouse in Philly with Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Max Kepler. (Hehe.)
@alextantum Harrison Bader says that Byron Buxton is the best player he’s ever played with ? #mlb #baseball #sports #buxton #minnesotatwins ♬ original sound – Alex Tantum
None of them stack up the greatness of Buxton, in Bader’s eyes. Is he biased, by recency or stylistic likeness to his own game? Perhaps. But his perception as a total outsider who passed through the Twins organization for only a few months, witnessing Buck’s game firsthand over half of a season, speaks volumes. It’s another reminder for us all to appreciate what we’re seeing from a healthy and uninhibited Byron Buxton.
At age 31, he’s still flying around the field and running as fast as anyone in baseball. He’s making spectacular catches in center, swiping bases flawlessly, and putting up the best production of his career with 31 homers and 5.0 fWAR.
In some ways, this brilliant and long-awaited breakthrough season for Buxton has been a source of fan frustration, spawning an array of what-ifs and what-could-have-beens. Given the overall malaise of this year for the Twins, it can feel difficult to fully enjoy and appreciate what Buxton has done. But make no mistake: it is never overlooked by his teammates, or by his manager, who was once again marveling recently about the center fielder’s determination to fight through anything on the field — and how it clashes with the “injury-prone” or “fragile” labels that have dogged him throughout his career.
There’s a universe in which Byron Buxton stays healthy and avoids the injuries that started derailing him before his MLB journey even began. In that world, he may very well have been a player worth naming in conversations with Judge and Harper, and headed toward the same type of inner-circle treatment.
That didn’t come to pass, but players like Bader still see the raw ability in there, and it’s awesome that we’re all getting to see it on display in an otherwise dismal Twins season.