The Minnesota Twins drafted Byron Buxton with the second overall pick in 2012. Drafted with the promise of a five-tool player boasting 30-30 potential, injuries and an inconsistent approach at the plate have unfortunately hindered Buxton from fully realizing that talent over his 11-year career. He has battled knee injuries, back problems, wrist issues, concussions, migraines, hip soreness, and other nagging issues.

All these injuries have amounted to him missing around 50% of his playing time. Buxton is in his 11th season as a Twin, and he has appeared in 772 career games, which averages out to roughly 77 games played a year coming into the 2025 season.

The bright spot this year for Buxton is that he has managed to play in all but three games so far. Two of the games he missed were for personal reasons. With Buxton healthy and playing centerfield, we have already seen what he can do with his glove and speed.

Byron remains one of the best centerfielders in baseball, with an above-average Fielding Run value of two and an above-average arm. Another intriguing stat is that Buxton is among the best in the league at route running, and his burst of speed allows him to break on balls that he gets a bad jump on.

He won a Gold Glove in 2017 when he played in a career-high 140 games. So far this year, he has yet to make an error in the field, totaling 232 innings and 59 chances. Over his 11-year career, Buxton is in the top 25 all-time in fielding percentage (.9931), proving why he's so valuable to have in Centerfield.

Buxton Completes Twins' 100-100 Trifecta

Buxton made history during Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Guardians by recording his 100th career stolen base. With that stolen base and his 139 career home runs, only three players in Minnesota Twins history have achieved the milestone of 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases, and Buxton is one of them. He joins Torii Hunter and the late great Kirby Puckett as the only ones to accomplish this feat.

Buxton has brought back his elite speed and knack for stealing bases along with his fielding. Buxton currently ranks #1 in the league in sprint speed (30.2). Since 1951, his 100 stolen bases put him #1 all-time in stolen base percentage at 89.28% (Metric is based on 80 stolen base attempts (baserunners only since 1951) or 100 decisions for career leaderboards for rate statistics). He has only been caught stealing 12 times in his career and is currently 7-7 this year in stolen base attempts.

It's a luxury for the Twins to employ such a game-changer in Buxton. If he stays healthy, he will have a good shot at 20HR-20SB and an outside shot at 30-30, especially if he can raise his career average to .244. Brian Dozier was the last twin to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in one season when he hit 23 home runs and swiped 21 stolen bases; no Twin has ever reached the 30-30 mark. Could it be Buxton this year?

Suppose he can work on his 34.2 K% and extremely low 3.4 BB%. A more selective Buxton would also help increase these numbers, but Byron is Byron. He's gonna be aggressive at the plate and swing early and often.

Health is always a big question mark with Byron, but he has answered all his critics. It's very exciting as a Twins fan to see him playing every day in Centerfield, where he belongs. I hope his bat can heat up, and the Twins can pile up some wins. The Twins currently sit in fourth place (13-18) with one more game against Cleveland today, before heading out for a three-game slate vs the Boston Red Sox.