Byron Buxton Hit His 100th Career Homer On Tuesday Night | Can The DH Position Keep This MLBbro Superstar On The Field For A Full Season?

Byron Buxton Hit His 100th Career Homer On Tuesday Night | Can The DH Position Keep This MLBbro Superstar On The Field For A Full Season?

by | Apr 11, 2023 | THE LEAD OFF

Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton has dealt with numerous injuries the past few seasons, causing him to miss significant time.

Buxton Hits 100th Career Homer In 595th Career Game 

Buxton comes into this season healthy and ready to lead his team to success.

 

And so far, he has been one of the Twins’ top hitters. The big question is, can Buxton stay healthy as the season progresses?

 

Buxton’s batting .308 after going 1-for-4 on Tuesday night in a 4-3 extra innings win over Tim Anderson’s Chicago White Sox, and has reached base in 10 of the first 11 games he’s played this season.

The win was just the icing on the cake as the talented MLBbro hit his 100th career Bro bomb in his 595th career game.

Seeing their star player have success at the start of the season is a great sign for the Twins who are 6-4 and battling it out with the Guardians for first place in the AL Central division. 

 

One Of The Best In The Game

 

The outfielder made his first All-Star appearance last season and belted a home run to help the American League defeat the National League 3-2.

 

 

Buxton Battling Injuries

 

While the 29-year-old played in his first All-Star Game, he also had to get season-ending knee surgery, limiting him to 92 games. The year before that he only played in 61 games. Hopefully that won’t be the case for him this year.

 

Those 92 games, however, were the most games he’s played in since 2017. So that’s a noteworthy positive for Buxton, who has not let the injuries have a negative impact on his career. He’s always remained optimistic when dealing with injuries. Minnesota invested over $100M in him, so they believe as well. 

 

 

 

Buxton understands that injuries are a part of the game and unfortunately for him, the injuries have followed him around consistently. But despite the setbacks, he is the definition of a true leader. Even when he was sidelined last season due to injuries, he still had an impactful presence in the clubhouse.

 

The Twins were an early pick to make the postseason last year after getting off to a hot start, while Buxton was in the lineup. As the season progressed, things started to cool off for Minnesota and the injuries didn’t help at all.

 

A healthy Buxton in 2023 will be a sight to see

 

Minnesota finished the 2022 season with a 78-84 record. This season, the team is looking to turn that around and get back to its winning ways, especially with Buxton healthy.

 

 If the Twins want to continue to be in the race throughout the season, there’s no question that Buxton will have to stay healthy.

 

 

Byron Buxton Is On Pace To Play Most Games Since 2017 | Big Bux Shaking Injury Prone Tag In Big Fashion

 

 

When he’s healthy, he’s a beast on the field and at the plate.

 

With Buxton in the leadoff spot for the Twins, he provides that spark and can set the tone during the beginning of games. And you better believe that he can come up clutch in crucial situations. Whether you need a home run or a single, Buxton is the guy you want up to bat with the game on the line.

 

This will be a big season for Buxton and Minnesota. If he can limit the number of games missed this season, then the Twins will have a good chance to make some noise come September. They already had a close call with a rough slide into second, but it wasn’t serious. 

Call To The Baseball Gods: “For The Sake Of The Game, Please Keep Byron Buxton Healthy!” 

Call To The Baseball Gods: “For The Sake Of The Game, Please Keep Byron Buxton Healthy!” 

by | Apr 18, 2022 | THE THREE SPOT

I’m sending a prayer out to the Baseball Gods: For the sake of the game, please keep Byron Buxton healthy!  

This past Friday baseball fans faced one of their biggest recurring nightmares; Byron Buxton in agony after suffering yet another fluke injury, this time to his right knee on a routine slide to second base.

Buxton jogged out of the batter’s box after hitting what appeared to be an easy pop out to the shortstop, but the Boston afternoon sun had other plans as the entire left side of the Red Sox’ defense couldn’t locate the ball.  Buxton sped up to stretch what should have been an easy out into a double and injured his knee on the slide.

He immediately slammed his fist into the infield dirt and began walking off the field, which if you have followed Buxton’s career you know it was a terrible sign.

According to the Twins, X-rays on Buxton’s right knee came back negative, and he is expected to return to the lineup sometime next weekend.

This news is great for baseball fans, but the scare is just the latest in what has been an injury riddled eight-year career for Buxton who signed a seven-year $100 million deal with the Twins in December of 2021.

READ: Byron Buxton Is One Healthy Season Away From MLBbro Supremacy | Minnesota Twins Five-Tool Talent Is A Leading MVP Candidate | mlbbro.com

Before this season Buxton had missed a total of 493 games with injuries.  Year by year he has not been able to catch a break-from hurting himself on the basepaths or crashing into the outfield wall on defense.

Since 2015 Buxton has dealt with a sprained thumb, knee contusion, back spasms, groin strain, strained wrist, fractured toe, concussion, shoulder surgery, a foot sprain and last season a hamstring injury and hip issues that put an end to a MVP caliber start to the 2021 season.

Last April he won the American League Player of the Month award by posting a .426 batting average, eight home runs, 14 runs batted in, 15 runs scored, three steals and a .466 on base percentage.

He was on pace to battle guys like Shohei Ohtani and Vlad Guerrero Jr. for the American League Most Valuable Player award before injuring himself trying to beat out a ground ball last May, a little less than 12 months since his latest injury.

Throughout the first eight games of this season Buxton appeared to already be in All-Star form.  He already has three home runs and sports an OPS of 1.058.

The Twins franchise has been competitive over the last few years but they have a major postseason monkey on their backs.  The team has lost 18 consecutive playoff games since 2002 when they defeated the Oakland A’s in the Divisional Round.

The team made major splashes this off-season and somewhat shocked  the baseball world when they signed Carlos Correa and brought in a few pieces from the Yankees to help give Buxton some support in the lineup, but he is the spoon that’s going to have to stir their pot if they have any chance of taking the American League Central title from Tim Anderson and his White Sox.

Nick Gordon, brother of former Gold Glove winner Dee Strange-Gordon will take over center field for the Twins in Buxton’s absence.