Wed - 27 Mar
Written by S.D. Buhr
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of preseason articles about the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Next: Pitchers)
We’ve worked our way around the horn in the first three parts of this series, covering many of the catchers, corner infielders and middle infielders who possibly could put on a Kernels uniform in Cedar Rapids this summer.
In Part 4 of our series, we are checking out a number of outfielders who could take the field for Cedar Rapids at some point during 2013.
Obviously, we can’t know exactly who will come north to Iowa out of spring training to start the season, but regardless of which of these prospects starts the season in Cedar Rapids, the Kernels' outfield could be loaded.
A number of the organization’s top prospects played at Elizabethton in 2012, and many of them should start the season in Cedar Rapids.
Byron Buxton – Age 19 – Bats R/Throws R
2012: Fort Myers (Rookie – GCL) and Elizabethton (Rookie – Appalachian)
G - 48, BA - .248, K - 41, BB - 19, 2B - 10, 3B - 4, HR - 5
The only benefit to having the second-worst record in Major League Baseball in 2011 was that it earned the Twins the right to the second overall draft pick in the 2012 amateur draft. The Twins used that pick to select Buxton out of his Georgia high school. Less than a year later, he’s generally considered either the first- or second-ranked prospect in the Twins organization.
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