Twins outfielder Byron Buxton has had a difficult year in 2023, struggling to a roughly league average slash line of .207/.294/.438 in just 82 games while being relegated exclusively to DH duties thanks to troubles with his right knee, on which he underwent surgery this past offseason. With Minnesota having punched its ticket to the postseason, Buxton is nonetheless hoping to return to help the Twins win their first postseason game since 2004 despite not having played in a professional game since August 1.
In a recent interview with La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, Buxton discussed his hopes of playing in the postseason this year and the injury that’s bothered him all throughout the 2023 season. Perhaps most notably, Neal notes that Buxton’s knee has given him more trouble than was known publicly to this point or that the Twins anticipated it would. Buxton tells Neal that his role as the club’s DH was initially meant to be a temporary situation, but the knee has caused him discomfort throughout much of the season and has needed to be drained multiple times.
Neal notes that young infielder Royce Lewis is likely to take up the DH spot in the postseason lineup while he nurses a hamstring strain that’s prevented him from taking the field. That leaves Buxton unlikely to return to the lineup as a DH in the postseason, meaning that he’ll need to prove he’s healthy enough to play the field in addition to hitting. That leaves Buxton vying for reps in center field against Michael A. Taylor, who has posted a solid season as the club’s regular center fielder in place of Buxton.
Per Neal, Buxton met with Twins manager Rocco Baldelli on Wednesday in order to make the argument that he should be included on the postseason roster. As things stand right now, whether or not Buxton will make an appearance on the club’s postseason roster figures to be decided by how Buxton performs in workouts at Target Field over the weekend, with Neal noting that Buxton is set to hit, run, and play center field while the Twins face the Rockies in Colorado this weekend.
The interview sheds light on the Twins’ postseason plans, indicating that Lewis figures to return to the lineup alongside shortstop Carlos Correa, who was previously reported as expected to rejoin the lineup in time for (or before) the postseason. Regardless of whether Buxton is able to return to the Twins before the 2023 campaign comes to a close, Neal relays a piece of positive news regarding Buxton’s health: per Twins trainer Nick Paparesta, the surgically repaired part of Buxton’s knee is still improving and he shouldn’t be impacted by the injury headed into 2024, which will be his age-30 season.
He’ll somehow injure some other body part playing CF this weekend.
I’m a Twins fan and I don’t think Buxton should be on the playoff roster. Too many other players have been more productive than him this season and there’s no way he can play enough to fully contribute. At most, he could maybe pinch run or pinch hit.
Rest up for next season and come back hard.
It’s a no-go for Buxton if I get to vote on the matter.
No.
Hey, Joefishy! Are you the same one that used to frequent Twinkie Town? If so, hope you’re doing well.
if that’s league average then the league is in trouble
Agreed!
That’s for sure!
Certainly wouldn’t be fun to watch, but it will produce runs at a league average rate.
732 ops?
That’s decent.
It wasn’t specified which league we’re talking about
Taylor solid for the season? He’s hitting .220
gg41
What if, and this is a radical idea, but stick with me, what if there is more to baseball than the ratio of hits to the times a player batted and didn’t sacrifice, or walk or get hit by a pitch or a few other things?
What if walking matters?
What if hitting fire power matters?
What if base running matters?
What if defense matters?
Over under on Minnyhaha playoff wins? 2? 1? 0?
I’ve said this in the past, Starling Marte straight up for Byron Buxton. I’d even throw in Brett Baty in the deal. Twins get a short term commitment to a more consistent player in Marte (2 years) while the Mets take on Buxton’s long term contract in return. Buxton just doesn’t play enough to warrant a massive haul. I think in the long run this would benefit both teams
What? That trade doesn’t help either team haha. And you’ve said this before? Why?
It is worth noting that while sitting there for the interview Buxton felt discomfort in his knee and is probably hurt
Thinking hard on comps of historical players of such ethereal talent whose careers have been derailed as much as Buxton’s, and drawing blanks. Anyone else out there who compares to-lost-to-injuries like his?
Twins need to put their best roster forward if theyre going to break their playoff game losing streak. And that sadly doesnt include Buxton. Right now, looks like they draw Houston. Cant say I much like their chances regardless.
But on a positive note, they have a better chance of winning a game than my Mets do, so there’s always that.
Kal Daniels
Grady Sizemore
I feel like Brian Roberts dealt with a lot of injuries but I also feel like Roberts was a juicer who’s career detailed more because he stopped using.
I’m hoping if Royce is on the roster he’s playing 3B. That way Julien can DH
Of course he wants to play in the playoffs the national spotlight is on. Just last year he made sure to start center field in the all star game then his knee was too hurt to even DH for the twins for the next week or so and he himself said that was from an injury from before the break. He just made sure to get to play when everyone was watching.
Saying he’s ready just in time for playoffs doesn’t surprise me in the least. Absolute clown show.
Twins have WAY more productive options. This goof shouldn’t make the roster
At least he’s healthy enough to do Dairy Queen commercials.
I would not be against the idea of putting Buxton in CF. Taylor is more of a backup player and Buxton can at least equal if not exceed his production. The thing about Buxton I often wonder about is if he is swinging for the fences rather than just focusing on the basics of being more selective with pitches and working the count so he can find a pitch to do some damage with. I would be excited to see him even drop an occasional bunt as Puckett used to do to keep the fielders honest. If DH is all Buxton can do though I prefer to give at bats to Royce Lewis or Eddie Julien. I also could see a nice platoon with Julien and Polonco. Julien seems to be punishing righties while Polonco is punishing lefties. A 2nd base platoon could be in order.
I think he’s got such a bad plant foot that he’s got almost no power unless he completely sells out swinging at mistakes. He looks completely over-matched against good pitches, and his OPS is mostly based on a bunch of hard hit hanging stuff that went over the fence back in April (7 of his 17hr.)
I think he’s too broken to help given how unlikely he is to be facing garbage pitchers in the playoffs. So if Rocco really wants to know what Byron’s got he just needs to get Varland or someone down there and see how he handles 98mph. Chance are good it’ll be bad.
Here’s a Tigers fan rooting for the Twins to make a deep playoff run, prove to the world that the Central isn’t as bad as records show. In a long season a good team can get hot and run the table in post season
Any team in the post season can get hot but if it is indeed the Twins, it won’t make the AL Central any better.
For whatever reason, he hasn’t earned his spot, nor was he playing well enough earlier in the season to justify giving it to him.. The only way he gets on the roster is because Falvey and Levine hope it makes them look less like idiots for the huge extension they gave to such a fragile player.