The oft-injured Byron Buxton is heading into the 2023 season with renewed optimism. According to Dan Hayes, the Minnesota Twins centerfielder has fully recovered from knee surgery in late September.
Nevertheless, the AL Central contenders will ease Buxton into his workload in Spring Training as they ramp up activities for Opening Day.
Included in the story about Jordan Balazovic sustaining a broken jaw during an altercation are updates about Byron Buxton's first activity of spring, Alex Kirilloff's wrist and several other notes from #MNTwins camp.https://t.co/mXoIn7uprJ
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 19, 2023
Buxton played in only 92 games last season, which sadly was tied for the second-most games he’s played in a year since landing in the majors in 2015. The former Gold Glove winner put up the second-best OPS+ of his career, setting a new benchmark with 28 home runs.
When healthy, we’ve seen Buxton’s elite five-tool repertoire that puts him in the AL MVP conversation. However, he’s played just 279 games over the past four seasons, albeit one of which was shortened due to COVID-19.
The AL Central will again be one of MLB’s most tightly contested divisions this season. That’s reflected in the Twins’ betting price, as they enter the campaign with the third-longest odds to claim the division banner, per the line info from FanDuel Sportsbook.
