Twins star Byron Buxton has been out for the past nine days due to a right hip impingement, and while he’s not calling it a season yet, the three-time All-Star and former Platinum Glove center fielder tells Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star-Tribune that he’ll likely require surgery in the offseason.
Buxton says he’s battled hip pain on and off for “years,” dating back to a 2021 IL placement due to a hip strain. He’s received a series of injections that have calmed the issue in recent seasons, but this is now his sixth IL stint — and third since early July — pertaining to that perpetually ailing hip. “It’s probably had enough of the shots and treatments,” says Buxton.
For now, however, he plans to “keep fighting” while the Twins still have faint playoff hopes. Minnesota is currently six and a half games back in the AL Central but only three and a half behind Cleveland for the final Wild Card spot in the American League.
Health troubles are nothing new for the 32-year-old Buxton — one of the game’s most talented but oft-injured players. He’s never topped 140 games in a season and has only reached 100 games three times (though he’d have been on pace for a fourth in the shortened 2020 campaign).
For the first three and a half months of the 2026 season, Buxton was hitting at a borderline MVP-caliber level. He slashed .271/.328/.525 and belted 25 home runs in only 335 trips to the plate. His hip flared up on July 5 at Yankee Stadium, however, prompting the first of this year’s IL stints. He returned in late July but has twice been placed back on the 10-day IL. Since that flate-up in the Bronx, he’s batted only .172/.274/.203 in 73 plate appearances.
Top prospect Walker Jenkins has played center field in each of the Twins’ past six games. The former No. 5 overall pick was a consensus top-10 prospect in the entire sport at the time of his promotion to the majors, but he’s gotten out to a slow start. Jenkins is 3-for-20 with four walks, a double and a home run (which came off a position player) to begin his major league career. There’s no cause for concern over six games of struggles to begin his career, and it’s hardly fair to ask any rookie to replace the production of a multi-time All-Star who was on pace for a 40-homer season when an injury flared up. Still, the absence of their best player has clearly been felt by the Twins, who went 10-17 in August while Buxton was playing through injury and eventually missing time due to his hip troubles.
Buxton is in the fifth season of a seven-year, $100MM extension that is loaded with incentives based on playing time and awards voting. He’s earning $15MM per year through 2028 but can take home an additional $2.5MM each season based on plate appearances and an additional $3-8MM per season based on MVP balloting.
Even with the glut of missed time over the years, Buxton has been worth around 15-16 wins above replacement (15.3 fWAR, 16.4 bWAR) thanks to his strong glovework and a collective .248/.317/.515 batting line since signing his contract. His name popped up in trade rumblings as clubs showed interest at last year’s deadline and again in the offseason, but Buxton has a full no-trade clause and has said on multiple occasions that he has no plans to play anywhere other than Minnesota, which has come to be home for the Georgia native.
There’s no indication that an offseason procedure to address Buxton’s hip would sideline him into the 2027 season — if it even starts on time, that is; collective bargaining negotiations could, of course, impact next year’s start date. Buxton figures to return to a new-look outfield alongside some combination of Jenkins, Trevor Larnach, Luke Keaschall, Alan Roden, Austin Martin and top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez, although the exact shape the outfield group takes will depend heavily on offseason dealings. Larnach was nearly traded at the deadline and will be a trade candidate this winter.
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