Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins will be down their best hitter for the final week of the All-Star break. They placed Byron Buxton on the IL on Tuesday with a right hip strain and called up outfielder Alan Roden to take his spot on the active roster.
Buxton left Sunday’s 6-1 Twins victory over the New York Yankees in the first inning after he was caught stealing for the first time in his last 37 attempts. Buxton spoke to the Minnesota Star Tribune, which reported he was in an upbeat mood. Still, given the Twins had only six games before the break and an additional four days off afterward, the team opted to place him on the IL.
“I think we’re just feeling like, as Shelty and Nick worked through it with Byron, just thinking about the idea of kind of getting caught in this repeated cycle,” said Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll. “And the best thing at this point is probably just to give it clear downtime to let it fully resolve itself so that he’s not in this in-between state and can feel fully confident, hopefully for a full second half post-All-Star.”
“I just think with where we’re at in the schedule, how he’s feeling, knowing that he’s going to be down a few days, it was probably the best-case scenario for everybody,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said.
Byron Buxton has played in 75 games this season and has been one of the game’s premier power hitters. He owns a .271/.328/.575 slash line with 25 home runs, 45 RBI, and a .904 OPS on the year.
Buxton will miss at least six games, and he will also sit out the 2026 MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia. It’s the Twins centerfielder’s third nod to the Mid-Summer Classic, but the first time fans voted him in. With all that entailed, it proved to be a difficult conversation for Shelton to have with his star player.
“It’s a challenging conversation because of the fact — well, there’s multiple factors. No. 1, because of the fact of what he means to our team,” said Shelton. “No. 2, the fact that the All-Star Game’s coming up and he was voted to be the starter in the All-Star Game.
“I think the thing that I admire the most about Byron Buxton is his No. 1 thought is this team and where we’re at and how he’s going to be able to impact it. As we started to talk through it more, it just became more obvious that it was the best decision for us and for him.”
With Buxton going on the IL retroactive to Monday, the Twins have lined him up to be activated as early as Friday, July 17, when they open up the second half of the season in Chicago for a three-game series at Wrigley. As long as all goes well in Buxton’s recovery, he should be back in the lineup as the Twins look to build on their playoff hopes.
