Byron Buxton Has Been the AL's Best Defensive Centerfielder In His Age-32 Season

[Cody Schoenmann]

A little over a week ago, North Side Baseball’s Matthew Trueblood wrote a piece illustrating how Pete Crow-Armstrong is the best centerfielder in baseball, and potentially the rangiest centerfielder ever. Advanced metrics support this claim, with Crow-Armstrong sitting atop the position in FanGraphs’s Defensive Runs Above Average (7.2 DEF) and Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average (7 OAA). Arizona Diamondbacks centerfielder Alek Thomas sits in second at both metrics, generating 3.2 DEF and 3 OAA over 183 innings at the position this season.

 

Andy Pages (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Michael Harris II (Atlanta) reside in the third and fourth slots in DEF, generating 2.4 and 2.3, respectively. Interestingly, however, Byron Buxton has generated the fifth-most DEF (1.7) in the third-highest OAA (2) at the position this season, slotting him alongside Thomas, Pages, and Harris II as the second tier of elite defensive centerfielders behind Crow-Armstrong.

 

Thomas, Pages, Harris II, and Buxton are all fast, rangy centerfielders with plus arms and route-taking skills. Yet, what separates the trio of Thomas, Pages, Harris II (and Crow-Armstrong) from Buxton is that they all play for National League clubs. Buxton is tied with Evan Carter, Denzel Clarke, Steven Kwan, and Tristan Peters for first in OAA and tied for first in DEF once again alongside Kwan. Buxton, however, has generated 184 innings at the position compared to Kwan’s 189, meaning he made more of an impact at the position in fewer innings played (albeit only five).

 

Buxton is neck-and-neck with Carter, Clarke, Kwan, and Peters in OAA and Kwan in DEF. Still, if one were to look even further below the hood, they would notice the 32-year-old Twins outfielder is leading the four other plus AL centerfielders in other important metrics. Buxton is the best among the quartet in making plays running in, sporting 1 OAA in those scenarios. Buxton is tied with Clarke and Kwan with 1 OAA on making plays to his right and trailing only Peters, Kwan, and Carter on plays to his left.

 

Again, there is very little wiggle room between Buxton and Kwan; Carter is not far behind them, either. Still, there is one metric Buxton truly separates himself from the pack in: sprint speed. According to Baseball Savant’s sprint speed metric, Buxton is the 12th-fastest player in baseball, and the third-fastest player in the AL behind only Bobby Witt Jr. and Chandler Simpson. That being the case, Buxton is the AL’s quickest centerfielder, sprinting 29.5 feet per second. Peters is close behind him, running 28.6 feet per second. Still, he is far behind Buxton in DEF, sporting only 0.4 over 96 innings at the position. Carter sprints 27.8 per second. Like Peters, he trails Buxton in DEF, netting only 1.5 over 222 2/3 innings in center. Most notably, Kwan is one of the slowest centerfielders in baseball, sprinting 26.7 feet per second (ranking him 34th out of 38 centerfielders).

 

Buxton is not leaps and bounds ahead of fellow AL centerfielders like Crow-Armstrong is compared to the rest of the sport. Heck, he is barely even a top-five centerfielder in the sport, with Thomas, Pages, and Harris II firmly planted ahead of him. Still, given Buxton’s competition in the AL, and him resembling the elite defender who won the Platinum Glove in 2017, the long-time Twin could again be the AL’s best defensive centerfielder, a remarkable feat for a player who recently reached ten years of service time.

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[Doctor Gast]

Thank you, Cody, for your interesting article. I don't understand some of the talk, saying that by defensive stats, Buck is over the hill & we should move on from him. I still don't trust defensive stats. Too many analysts spin the stats, saying terrible defensive players are really good, when your eyes say they are not & good players are really not. I only trust my eyes, & my eyes say that we are fortunate to have Buck in CF.

[D.C Twins]

Quite honestly, I hope to see him win a WS with Atlanta this year and enjoy watching the young talent he brings in return during the second half of the season. 

Time to free up the outfield for prospects and Free Buck

[thelanges5]

Buck also has 10 HR in his last 17 games. 
🦌🚛🚀

[RpR]

5 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

Quite honestly, I hope to see him win a WS with Atlanta this year and enjoy watching the young talent he brings in return during the second half of the season. 

Time to free up the outfield for prospects and Free Buck

It is amazing how so many here, no matter who, are like bovines who always prefer the grass on the other side of the fence.

To them the Twins are not the team representing them in MLB, they act like souteneurs for whom the player are merely courtesans to be used and dumped willy-nilly for monetary reasons.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Nice article. Very interesting. Hurray for Buck. 

[D.C Twins]

4 hours ago, RpR said:

It is amazing how so many here, no matter who, are like bovines who always prefer the grass on the other side of the fence.

To them the Twins are not the team representing them in MLB, they act like souteneurs for whom the player are merely courtesans to be used and dumped willy-nilly for monetary reasons.

. 

Real fans of this team should not wish for half arsed planning.

Ownership has already committed to a rebuild through last years actions.... but they have not had the intestinal fortitude to see it through.

Some 'fans' such as yourself perhaps do not have the intestinal fortitude either. That is fine, as long as you like protracted bad-mediocre baseball lasting upwards of a decade....

[RpR]

4 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

. 

Real fans of this team should not wish for half arsed planning.

Ownership has already committed to a rebuild through last years actions.... but they have not had the intestinal fortitude to see it through.

 

Some 'fans' such as yourself perhaps do not have the intestinal fortitude either. That is fine, as long as you like protracted bad-mediocre baseball lasting upwards of a decade....

Intestinal fortitude - LOL, - You are delusional if you think that term has any thing to do with some here peeing and moaning like spoiled youth not getting what they want in their in infantile wisdom.

REAL-  to use you poorly chosen term - fans go to or watch games because win or lose they  truly enjoy the game.  There are , low points worth grumbling about, along with high points worth celebrating,  but they do not  ramble on and on, with tautological rhetoric from their - all knowing  wisdom -  of how things should -   properly -  be/have been - done.

To each his own.

[Hunter4848]

10 hours ago, RpR said:

Intestinal fortitude - LOL, - You are delusional if you think that term has any thing to do with some here peeing and moaning like spoiled youth not getting what they want in their in infantile wisdom.

REAL-  to use you poorly chosen term - fans go to or watch games because win or lose they  truly enjoy the game.  There are , low points worth grumbling about, along with high points worth celebrating,  but they do not  ramble on and on, with tautological rhetoric from their - all knowing  wisdom -  of how things should -   properly -  be/have been - done.

To each his own.

Lol, this is an AI reply

[Fatbat]

@RpR Nicely stated facts.  
 

Buck is having an historically great start in ‘26! Both defense and offense. Like a fine wine, he is aging well and taking care of himself. Being available every day is now his super power which he is seems to be enjoying!  Too bad the team doesn’t have a viable bullpen to win in the late innings. 

[terrydactyls]

I don't give a rat's a$$ where Buck ranks in the eyes of mathematical statistics.  I enjoy watching him play CF.  And he is, beyond any doubt, the best the Twins have to play CF in 2026.  Just enjoy watching him while you can and ignore the bullpen shenanigans. 

[TJSweens]

Defensive metrics have a wide margin of error. I remember reading an article by the creator of the old UZR stat, where he states that in order to get a truly accurate assessment of defensive performance, you need 3 years of data on a player at a position to establish a baseline. 

Basically, I don't put a lot of stock in stats that say how many runs a player has saved or how many additional wins he accounts for. 

Just watch Buck play. He still gets to a select range of balls that the majority of center fielders don't get to. He is still one of the top center fielders. It doesn't take an advanced metric analysis to figure that out.

[D.C Twins]

12 hours ago, RpR said:

Intestinal fortitude - LOL, - You are delusional if you think that term has any thing to do with some here peeing and moaning like spoiled youth not getting what they want in their in infantile wisdom.

REAL-  to use you poorly chosen term - fans go to or watch games because win or lose they  truly enjoy the game.  There are , low points worth grumbling about, along with high points worth celebrating,  but they do not  ramble on and on, with tautological rhetoric from their - all knowing  wisdom -  of how things should -   properly -  be/have been - done.

To each his own.

Putting all of the histrionics and hyperbole aside, the situation is pretty straight forward.

1. We all love Buck and wish that his peak aligned with a Twins competitive window, but alas, it did not.

2. Buck has peak trade value right now which will erode soon (probably starting next year)

3. Getting additional talent that aligns with the next core via a Buck trade makes sense

Good roster construction happens by using intellect and not emotion. 

If I make you feel any better, the Twins don't have the foggiest idea about good roster construction.

This will come down to Buck's desires. If he wants out at the trade deadline, the Twins will probably oblige. If he want to stay, obviously he will with his no-trade clause. 

[bean5302]

15 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

. 

Real fans of this team should not wish for half arsed planning.

Ownership has already committed to a rebuild through last years actions.... but they have not had the intestinal fortitude to see it through.

Some 'fans' such as yourself perhaps do not have the intestinal fortitude either. That is fine, as long as you like protracted bad-mediocre baseball lasting upwards of a decade....

I saw no rebuilding effort started last year. I saw Falzoll in "squirrel!!!" mode making probably 1 too many bullpen trades.

There were zero valuable long term position player or rotation assets moved. Trading short term assets was what every good team in baseball does to recoup some value from a bad season, and moving Correa's bad contract allowed the Twins financial flexibility for this season.

The Twins moved 11 players.
Duran - IL, but had been lights out, maybe back soon.
Jax - terrible for TB this year
Varland - the only reason fans are so angry around here
France - no more team control, starting off great for the Padres (just like he did for the Twins)
Stewart - missing entire season due to shoulder surgery
Paddack - no more team control, terrible for MIA this year
Dobnak - getting shelled in the AAA rotation for the Mariners this year
Castro - no more team control, terrible for the Rockies
Bader - no more team control, terrible and injured for the Giants this year
Coulombe - no more team control, terrible for the Red Sox this year
Correa - moved to save money, was looking like a crippling contract, playing well for the Astros.

Correa and Varland are the only players who would be positively impacting the team at this very moment right now. Of the 11 guys moved, only 2 of them are any good and not hurt. It'd be great to have Duran back when he's healthy (soon) as well, but honestly, 2 bullpen arms and a SS which costs $35MM isn't enough to save this team.

[D.C Twins]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I saw no rebuilding effort started last year. I saw Falzoll in "squirrel!!!" mode making probably 1 too many bullpen trades.

There were zero valuable long term position player or rotation assets moved. Trading short term assets was what every good team in baseball does to recoup some value from a bad season, and moving Correa's bad contract allowed the Twins financial flexibility for this season.

The Twins moved 11 players.
Duran - IL, but had been lights out, maybe back soon.
Jax - terrible for TB this year
Varland - the only reason fans are so angry around here
France - no more team control, starting off great for the Padres (just like he did for the Twins)
Stewart - missing entire season due to shoulder surgery
Paddack - no more team control, terrible for MIA this year
Dobnak - getting shelled in the AAA rotation for the Mariners this year
Castro - no more team control, terrible for the Rockies
Bader - no more team control, terrible and injured for the Giants this year
Coulombe - no more team control, terrible for the Red Sox this year
Correa - moved to save money, was looking like a crippling contract, playing well for the Astros.

Correa and Varland are the only players who would be positively impacting the team at this very moment right now. Of the 11 guys moved, only 2 of them are any good and not hurt. It'd be great to have Duran back when he's healthy (soon) as well, but honestly, 2 bullpen arms and a SS which costs $35MM isn't enough to save this team.

I understand your point but IMO we need to look at this without knowledge of performance this season.  We traded Duran, Jax, Varland, and Correa. All of these guys were controllable. We did so to bring in younger talent to prepare for the next window.

We need to finish the job with Jeffers, Ryan, and Buck. Ryan and Jeffers are easy decisions because we will never pay them in free agency and make no mistake... they are going to free agency

Buck depends on Buck... but if he wants to leave, we should oblige for the right price

[C-Gangster]

On 5/2/2026 at 11:41 AM, D.C Twins said:

Quite honestly, I hope to see him win a WS with Atlanta this year and enjoy watching the young talent he brings in return during the second half of the season. 

Time to free up the outfield for prospects and Free Buck

 At this point, Buxton has probably funded enough orthopedic research in the Twin Cities to have a hospital wing named after him. If he leaves, the local economy of MRI technicians might collapse. Also did I mention he's a great leader?

[RpR]

11 hours ago, Hunter4848 said:

Lol, this is an AI reply

Only in your mind.