Return to Center Field? Byron Buxton Declares "I'm Back"

Twins Fest weekend allows fans an opportunity to get up close and personal with the team’s players while also getting excited for the upcoming season. The Twins usually add pieces to the roster before the last weekend in January. Still, this offseason has been relatively quiet, with the club searching for a new television deal and multiple top free agents still unsigned. Fans are searching for other things to get excited about with the team, and Byron Buxton provided that opportunity.

Throughout the weekend, Buxton was asked about his health and the possibility of returning to center field in 2024. On Friday night at Twins Fest Live, Buxton was asked about this possibility and said, “Oh yeah. I'm back.” On Saturday, the assembled media continued to probe Buxton with questions regarding his return. He said, “I wouldn’t have said that if I wasn’t sure. … [The] rehab feels money.”

Buxton is rehabbing after a year when he was limited to 85 games while playing exclusively as a designated hitter. He attempted a comeback late in the season, including an appearance in center field for the Saints. However, he couldn’t be on the team’s playoff roster until Alex Kirilloff injured himself during the Houston series. Buxton made one pinch-hit appearance and failed to reach base. Overall, he hit .207/.294/.438 (.731) with 17 doubles, one triple, and 17 home runs. There were glimpses of his powerful bat, but the season, for the most part, was a disappointment. 

Following the team’s elimination, team doctors evaluated Buxton and decided a second knee procedure was needed for him to return to center field. He underwent a procedure to excise the plica, a membrane flap, in his right knee. Derek Falvey told reporters that the team hoped the surgery would alleviate some of the pain Buxton had suffered while dealing with patellar tendinitis throughout the season. It had a much shorter recovery timeline than the knee procedure he had following the 2022 season, so the Twins hoped he could have a fairly regular build-up to the 2024 season. 

The Twins have been optimistic about Buxton throughout the winter, especially following his first post-operation check-up back in December. At the time, the team said Buxton was doing “really well” with a plan for him to start baseball activities.   

“(The doctors) felt like he was moving around as well as they had seen him move around in a long time, which was great,” Falvey said at the winter meetings. “He was doing some things that he couldn’t really do last year at different times in terms of how he was moving, so that was good. … Our expectation is that will ramp up really the latter half of this week and into next week, which puts him on a pretty normal schedule from an offseason standpoint in terms of what he’s doing baseball activity-wise. Obviously, we’ll continue to update as we get more running progression pieces to this.”

Buxton hasn’t been the most reliable narrator about his health in the past. He is a competitor, and his attitude has always been to push himself to make every play, even at the expense of his body. Buxton isn’t the only one that is pushing the positive narrative surrounding his health. Manager Rocco Baldelli and Falvey have been on record saying they expect Buxton to return to center. The team’s goal is for Buxton to play 80 games in center while splitting time at designated hitter. Minnesota will also rely on other center field options like Willi Castro, Nick Gordon, and Austin Martin. For fans, Buxton returning to center might be a pipe dream, but the Twins are a better team him in center, and he seems on track to meet the team’s goal with spring training on the horizon. 

Will Buxton play 80 games in center next season? Is he a reliable narrator on his health? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.