Minnesota Update: Sets make everything weird
Gopher volleyball dominates... in five sets, plus Byron Buxton is on his way back for reasons we can't fathom.
Sets are a weird way to keep score, when you think about it. This is true of volleyball or tennis or really anything.
It’d be like if basketball games were decided based on who won the most quarters, not the total score.
The Minnesota volleyball team beat Iowa on Thursday, three sets to two, but it was the first time since 2016 that the Hawkeyes had even managed to push the Gophers to five sets. Yet if you look at the box score, you can’t help but think that Minnesota absolutely creamed Iowa in this one; the Gophers out-hit their southern neighbors .313 to .167 for the match, had 76 kills to Iowa’s 43, had more blocks, more aces, more digs… more everything.
If you’d gone by total score, Minnesota would have been up 70-55 after three sets, and 94-81 after four, but the match still went to a fifth set… which the Gophers won 15-6.
So was it close, or not close? I suppose that’s in the eye of the beholder.
The Minnesota attack is settling in around three outside hitters, now. One, of course, is last year’s Big Ten Player of the Year, Taylor Landfair. One is Mckenna Wucherer, who was on last year’s conference all-freshman team. And the third is senior Lydia Grote, who transferred from Cal this year, and who is becoming an increasingly big part of the attack; the three hitters had virtually equal numbers of attacks in this match, with Landfair taking the top honors for the night (18 kills, hit .405).
The Gophers have to go to Nebraska on Sunday. It won’t be in front of 92,000 people this time, but still, winning anything in Lincoln - even a set - would be an accomplishment.
I got the following text on Thursday (I won’t say from who, as it’s hurtful), and I imagine I was not the only person in Minnesota to get a similar one: “Byron Buxton is 0-2 with two Ks; as such, he is back to midseason form, and is ready to be called up.”
Buxton last played for the Twins on August 1; at the time, the Twins were 55-53, two games up in the AL Central, and had recently gotten swept by the historically awful Kansas City Royals.
Since then, the Twins are 26-19, which is a 94-win pace. Their offense has recovered; they averaged 4.4 runs per game through August 1, and have averaged 5.5 since then. Buxton’s replacements in center, Michael A. Taylor and Willi Castro, have been worth 1.9 and 2.2 WAR, respectively. His replacement at DH, Edouard Julien, has been worth 2.3.
Buxton went on to go 1-for-4 for the Saints last night, as St. Paul beat Toledo 4-2… but I have no idea why you’d want to get him ready for the playoffs. He’s been worse this year than literally everyone who replaced him.
Old friend Randy Dobnak was pretty good for St. Paul, walking four but allowing only three hits and one run in six innings; hilariously, third baseman-turned-pitcher Andrew Bechtold vultured the win, even though he allowed a run on a hit and two walks himself, in one inning, and now has an ERA of 11.00.
TODAY’S SLATE
TWINS vs Anaheim (Los Angeles), 7:10pm
SAINTS vs Toledo, 6:37pm
ON DECK
GOPHERS FOOTBALL at Northwestern, Saturday
LOONS vs St. Louis, Saturday
VIKINGS vs Chargers, Sunday (noon)
WILD at Colorado, preseason, Sunday
GOPHERS VOLLEYBALL at Nebraska, Sunday
I think it is worth pointing out that Buxton - despite all his troubles this season - was still a much better hitter against left-handed pitchers than Wallner and Julien. And better than Castro against lefties as well. Assuming Buxton can play an above-average outfield, Taylor-Buxton-Kepler would arguably be the best outfield alignment both offensively and defensively against a left-handed starter.