Who is Drew Butera?

Butera reacts after reaching into the stands to make a great catch for the final out of a Minnesota victory over the White Sox

The son of former Twins catcher Sal Butera, Drew Butera has been in the Twins organization since the middle of the 2007 season, when he was acquired in a trade with the New York Mets.  The Twins shipped veteran second baseman Luis Castillo, who was to be a free agent at the end of the year, for Butera and minor league outfielder Dustin Martin.  The deal was not a popular one in Twins nation, as it appeared to be a money-saving move which made the Twins worse that season, when they weren't that far behind in the playoff hunt.  Not only that, but the two players they traded for were essentially non-prospects, Butera in particular.

Butera was the very definition of a no-hit, all-field catcher, a skill set that remains the same today.  At the time of the deal, Butera was hitting a measly .188 with a .439 OPS with the Mets' Double-A affiliate.  That wasn't that much worse than his career minor league record, as he batted .211 with a .309 slugging percent and a middling 10.1 % walk rate in 890 plate appearances over close to three seasons.  That included a full year at low Single-A in which his average finished at .186.

He played better with New Britain, Minnesota's Double-A affiliate, both for the remainder of 2007 and in 2008, but better for Butera still meant an OPS in the mid-to-high .700's.  When he moved up to Triple-A in 2009, his performance drooped back to an embarrassing level that was not adequate for any big league player, regardless of his position and defensive attributes.

But with the 2010 season came an opening on the Twins' roster, as long-time backup Mike Redmond departed from Minnesota.  Butera won the job as Joe Mauer's caddy over Jose Morales because of his superior defense.  Not surprisingly, considering his minor league track record, Butera was one of the very worst hitters in the major leagues.  He hit under .200 for the year and managed an OPS of just .533.

The same story has repeated itself in 2011.  Butera is hitting even worse this year, as his OPS has dipped to an astonishingly low .472.  Only one player with more plate appearances has a worse OPS or a worse wOBA (it's Reid Brignac), and only one player has a worse batting average (that would be Adam Dunn).  He's been able to keep his backup job because of Minnesota's fascination with his defense, and also because the Twins lack better options.  Having traded away Jose Morales and Wilson Ramos, the best alternatives--Rene Rivera and Steve Holm--got their chances this year, but hit similarly to Butera and didn't have his defensive reputation.

Butera seems to truly be a sterling defensive catcher, but no level of defense can make up for his league-worst hitting.  As long as he only plays in a reserve role, he won't harm the Twins too much.  If he's forced into a starting role, however, as he was earlier this season when Mauer was out, it could become a serious problem.

A Look at the Rooks

Due to numerous injuries, the Twins have already turned to a number of rookies thus far in 2010. How they've performed has had a big effect on the fortunes of the Twins through the first three months of the season. Here's how each of them has contributed.

Drew Butera- Butera made the Major League roster out of Spring Training because of Jose Morales' injury, and has been pretty much as advertised. He hasn't hit a lick, even considering his clutch pinch-hit homer on Saturday, but he has been solid on defense, throwing out half of ten attempted base stealers. His batting average is below the Mendoza Line, his wOBA is an atrocious .220, and he's walked just once in 43 plate appearances. All of that results in a below replacement level performance, but I have a hard time being disappointed when that's pretty much what I expected from Butera as Joe Mauer's backup.

Alex Burnett- Burnett was a slight shock to make the team out of Spring Training, as it took an injury to Joe Nathan and Clay Condrey to get him on the roster. And even then many fans, myself included, wanted to see Anthony Slama instead. Burnett, however, has quickly become a fixture in the bullpen, pitching both in long relief and in some high-leverage situations. His ERA is very good (2.70), his FIP is solid (3.22), but his xFIP is only so-so thanks to a very low HR/FB rate of 3.0 %.

Danny Valencia- Valencia, who many wanted to see start the year in Minnesota as the regular third baseman, made his debut in early June after Alexi Casilla underwent elbow surgery. Through 43 plate appearances Valencia has exhibited the characteristics that had others questioning his viability as the long-term answer at the hot corner. He's drawn just 2 walks, has a strikeout rate of 22 %, and has just one extra base hit, leaving his .317 average a very empty one. Of course, it's still very early in his career and we may yet see him make the adjustments to become a future big-league starter.

Wilson Ramos- Ramos burst onto the scene with a 7-9 performance in his first two games that also included 3 doubles. After that, however, Ramos slumped to the tune of one hit in 20 at bats to go with no extra base hits and no walks. At that point, Mauer returned from his injury, forcing Ramos back to AAA. Ramos, a consensus top-5 prospect for the Twins, still has some work to do, particularly in regard to his plate discipline, but his hot start is an indicator of what may be possible in years to come (just not with the Twins!).

Trevor Plouffe- In need of a shortstop after Casilla and J.J. Hardy hit the DL, Minnesota turned to former first-round pick Trevor Plouffe. The prospect seemed to finally be putting things together in AAA and was deserving of the opportunity. His time in the bigs, however, has been largely unsuccessful, to put it gently. So far he has just 3 hits in 23 at bats, an on-base percentage lower than his batting average, and an OPS under .300. Obviously it's far too soon to make any judgment on Plouffe's true ability, but the early returns are not encouraging.

Luke Hughes- On April 29th Hughes made his first big league appearance and promptly homered in his first plate appearance. He got the very definition of a cup of coffee, though, as he played in only one more game the next day before heading back to Rochester. In all he totaled just 7 at bats, collecting 2 hits and the aforementioned home run.


All in all, the Twins call-ups have exhibited one glaring deficiency: a lack of plate discipline. As a whole they've batted 147 times, drawn exactly 3 walks, and accumulated 33 strikeouts. That's a walk rate of just 2.0 %! Even Carlos Gomez and Delmon Young would be ashamed of that! If I sounded like a broken record going through their performances, that's why.

Minor League Update

I don't know if I'll do this regularly, but I just felt like doing a minor league post today. I check the minor league box scores every night, so it just depends on if I decide to post about them.

Note: I'm not including runs and RBIs as stats, because for me this is a look at who might help the Twins in the future, and I don't think those stats are very indicative of a hitter's talents.

Who's Hot:

Denard Span (AAA): Last 5 games- .450/.500/.545, 1 2B, 2 BB, 2 K, 6-6 SB
Span has continued his solid season at Rochester since being sent back down. He's never going to hit for power, but improved plate discipline (10:8 BB:K for the season) and baserunning (11-13 SB compared to 25-39 in 2007) could go a long way toward making him a serviceable major leaguer if he keeps it up this season.

Luke Hughes (AA): Last 10 games- .417/.462/.667, 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 9 K, 1-1 SB
The best part about these numbers is that they're basically equal to Hughes' ridiculous .386/.448/.685 line on the season. He turns 24 in August and has played all over the field so far this season. If he continues to hit anywhere near this level, it doesn't matter where he plays; he'll find a spot in the lineup.

Ben Revere (A): Last 9 games- .432/.475/.568, 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 BB, 3 K, 4-8 SB
Since getting promoted from EST on April 28th, the Twins' 2007 first round draft pick has done everything to prove that his play in the GCL league last year was no fluke. The Twins obviously thought highly of him when they took him in the first round, so now we just have to sit back and see if he can continue this hot hitting.

Who's Not

Jason Pridie (AAA): Last 5 games- .050/.136/.050, 2 BB, 5 K
When he started the season well, it looked like he would prove his 2007 season was no fluke. However, he has struggled lately and his line on the season has fallen to .270/.324/.381 while he has not had an extra base hit in his last 10 games.

Deolis Guerra (A+): Last 2 starts- 8.1 IP, 15 H, 11 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Guerra just turned 19 and is already in High-A, so these couple of bad starts mean nothing in terms of his long-term potential. Obviously it would be more encouraging if he was lights out for Fort Myers, but his numbers on the season are still decent even with these starts.

Drew Butera (AA): Last 10 games- .067/.263/.067, 8 BB, 11 K
Butera has managed 8 BB in his last 10 games, but when you have 2 singles in your last 30 at bats, it's hard to stay off of this list. His play isn't that concerning to me, though, as I've never expected him to have any role with the big league team since his acquisition in the Castillo trade.