The defensive genius of Byron Buxton is doing his predecessor proud

The instant the ball left Jason Kipnis’ bat, Trevor Hildenberger assumed the worst.

The opposite-field steamroller would certainly split the gap in left-center and roll to the wall for a leadoff double. Hildenberger recalled thinking that maybe if he was lucky, center fielder Byron Buxton would retrieve the ball quickly enough to hold Kipnis to a single.

Yet neither result had much appeal to the rookie pitcher. Both would surely negate the momentum the Twins had just gained in the top of the eighth inning, when Brian Dozier blasted a three-run homer to grab a one-run lead over the red-hot Cleveland Indians. Hoping to provide his team with a shutdown inning in a critical late September game, Hildenberger instead believed he had allowed the first batter to reach scoring position.

But then Buxton stepped in.

Similar to how he had done so many times before, the Twins’ electric center fielder came out of nowhere to make a diving, five-star catch mere inches above the ground.

The Progressive Field crowd weren’t the only ones stunned. On the mound, Hildenberger was in disbelief, noting later that the grab — one Statcast’s metrics said Buxton only had a 24 percent chance of making, with anything under 25 percent being deemed “five-star” — was among several jaw-dropping moments he had been personally provided by the outfielder.

None of this comes as a surprise to former teammate and nine-time Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter — not the eye-opening plays, nor the praise from Buxton’s pitchers. Hunter has spent enough time around Buxton to believe he has the “It” factor necessary for being an all-time great at the position.

To hear pitchers constantly commend Buxton is merely a byproduct of an outstanding defender, one Hunter expects to dominate baseball for many years to come. Not only does Buxton have the physical traits, but Hunter thinks he has the required mental makeup, too.

“When pitchers bring up their center fielder all the time, that’s when you know the guy is pretty good,” Hunter said. “When you’re running after the ball and you’re pursuing it, and it’s about to hit the ground, some guys let up. They let it drop and most people don’t notice. They go, ‘Well, no big deal.’ But us that played center field, we kind of know who’s that guy.

“Those guys take extra steps and close in on the ball well. They take away hits because they take that extra step. Byron Buxton is so fast he can make a mistake and make up for it. And, he takes the extra step, and that’s scary.”

Buxton initially did misread the Sept. 26 drive off the bat of Kipnis. He first took a deeper route in anticipation that the liner slicing away from him would travel further. After he noticed the trajectory was different than he first thought, Buxton quickly altered his route to a shallower depth.

Then Buxton sped over and laid out to provide Hildenberger with the first out of the inning.

He covered 56 feet on a ball that had a hang time of 3.6 seconds, according to Statcast.

It was one of three five-star catches Buxton made all season, and the timing couldn’t have been better. Hildenberger induced a pair of grounders to escape the eighth, Buxton singled in a run in the ninth and the Twins held on to beat the Indians 8-6. One night later, the Twins celebrated as they clinched a berth in the American League wild-card game.

“In no facet did I think he could get there,” Hildenberger said. “I turn around and he’s running like a gazelle, closing, closing and then obviously makes the catch one inch off the grass. I was just like, ‘Oh my God.’ He is truly special. I don’t think I can ever take it for granted. But he really saves a lot of runs.”

Yes, he does — 24 of them last year, per Fangraphs, third in the majors.

Buxton also often frustrates the hell out of opposing hitters, managers and hitting coaches alike. Line drives seemingly have no chance when they’re hit in Buxton’s direction. Flares? Forget about it.

Buxton takes them all away, and his opponents have noticed. Any time Buxton’s name was mentioned in the Chicago White Sox clubhouse last season, heads shook in disbelief of hits that were turned into outs.

Prior to a June 24 contest, Cleveland manager Terry Francona offered high praise for Buxton in a media scrum. Hours later, Buxton made Francona’s words look prophetic when he ended a 4-2 victory over the Indians with a diving grab in shallow center to rob Kipnis yet again, this time with a runner on second base.

“I don’t think I’m over-stating it, defensively, he’s as good going to get the ball as anybody  — maybe anybody I’ve ever seen,” Francona told reporters. “Andruw Jones in his prime was pretty special at getting jumps. I don’t think he had this kind of speed, but his jumps were incredible. You think of Devon White  — guys like that. But this guy, man, shoot, that one series we played them here, a couple of our guys would’ve been hot and came away, and (a reporter is) asking me why they’re slumping. It’s because he was making catches everywhere.”

One American League scout recently suggested Buxton is so fast “he could cover all three fields” at once. His speed may only be rivaled in the majors by Cincinnati Reds burner Billy Hamilton. Buxton recorded the fastest sprint time in baseball last season, covering an average 30.2 feet per second, according to Statcast.

His combination of speed and a strong nose for the ball allows Buxton to position himself closer to the infield than most.

“One thing that stands out is he plays so shallow and the ball is hit so hard and he still gets to it,” Hunter said.

On the other end, Hunter said, Buxton shows no fear as he nears the wall at the end of a long run. That fearlessness, Hunter believes, is what helps separate Buxton, who led the majors with 25 Outs Above Average, Statcast’s range-based metric. Whereas an average outfielder would have caught 87 percent of the balls hit to them in 2017, Buxton caught 93 percent.

“Some guys, once they get to a point and they feel that warning track, they kind of let up,” Hunter said. “Buxton, myself, Andruw Jones, (Ken) Griffey (Jr.) and a lot of other guys, of course — Kenny Lofton done it once in a while — most of those guys take that extra step have no fear. They’ll go for the ball.”

Hunter first set eyes on Buxton at spring training in 2015. While Hunter understood it might take time for Buxton — the No. 1 or 2-ranked prospect in baseball from 2014-16 by MLB.com, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus — to get comfortable at the plate, the glove was already there. But Buxton has managed to improve since then, Hunter said, and he doesn’t want to stop. Given his efforts resulted in a Gold Glove in 2017, Hunter thinks Buxton’s drive to improve could result in a lot more awards — and a lot more opponents shaking their head in disbelief.

“I saw a major-league player right away,” Hunter said. “Defensively, he could have played with anybody in the major leagues already and he got better since then. He’s still going to get better because he has a growth mindset. He still wants to learn different ways, and that’s what I like about him. That’s what’s scary.”

(Top image: Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)