For now, Byron Buxton is the only Twins player selected to play in the 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta.
He may not be the last.
Buxton, enjoying a relatively injury-free season, was named as a reserve for the game on July 15.
He leads the Twins in nearly every offensive category through the first 90 games, including 20 home runs and 16 stolen bases in as many attempts.
This is the second All-Star election for Buxton, whose solo home run in the 2022 at Dodger Stadium was the difference in a 3-2 win by the American League.
He was voted in as a starter that season in the fan balloting.
Buxton is also going home for this year's game; he grew up in Baxley, Ga., which is less than 200 miles away from Atlanta.
“It means a lot,” Buxton said. “The biggest thing for me is [that] last time I went to the game, as far as my family, it was four of us. We then added a kid. So being able to make it back with my whole family this time is very special. And to do it back home with this Twins uniform on, it’s a blessing. Everybody doesn’t get to play as many years as I do, and to be able to do it with the Twins and know I’m going to do it with the Twins every year I make it, that’s something special to me and my family.”
The Twins had two other viable All-Star candidates in starting pitcher Joe Ryan and closer Jhoan Duran.
Ryan has eight wins and an earned run average of 2.76 after allowing two runs in six innings of Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay.
Duran has a 1.56 ERA, five wins, and 13 saves out of the bullpen.
Both are expected to get strong consideration for addition to the AL roster if one of the selected pitchers backs out of the game.
Dating back to 1933, this is the 95th baseball All-Star Game, with the American League holding a 48-44-2 lead in the all-time series.
The only Twins player to have won the All-Star Game MVP award was Kirby Puckett, who had a double and a home run in the AL's 9-3 win in Baltimore in 1993.
The All-Star Game has been played in Minnesota three times, at the old Met in 1965, the Metrodome in 1984, and Target Field in 2014. The NL won the first two games in the Twin Cities, while the AL took the game 11 years ago.
To the delight of most baseball fans, the players will be wearing their primary home and road uniforms during the game.