For all the evidence that Byron Buxton has had an All-Star season, the supporting statistics start and end with this simple number: 73.
That's the total of games in which the Minnesota Twins have had their dynamic center fielder in the starting lineup, putting him on pace for the second-most of his 11-year career. Availability has long been the elusive piece to make Buxton one of the most complete players in the major leagues, and his age-31 season has brought a fresh wave of all-around production fueled by good health.
“It’s a monumental return,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s been one of the top players in baseball. To be able to get prime Buxton, basically every day, that’s a whole different deal. When you actually see it and you actually get it, and it’s in front of you every day, it’s a beautiful thing.”
His second All-Star Game selection will go down as one of his greatest satisfactions in the sport, considering the path he's taken to get here and the fact that the festivities next week will be in his native Georgia.
“Going back home to do something like this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I know I’m not going to play 30 more years to get back to Atlanta,” said Buxton, who was previously an All-Star in 2022 when the game was in Los Angeles.
That once-in-a-lifetime thing? His manager agrees.
"I think he's going to be extremely excited to be playing in front of so many friends and family," says Baldelli. "And how many times is the All-Star game played in your hometown and you're having just a splendid season and you get a chance to go that? That will never happen for most guys. Even the greatest players in our game, that will probably never happen for for most of them. So this is, it's an actual once-in-a-lifetime situation."
Family was front of mind when Buxton was informed he'd made the team. His youngest of three sons, Baire, wasn't born when he went the last time. The host site this year at Truist Park, the home of the Braves, is about a three-hour drive from his tiny hometown, Baxley. Then there's his participation in the Home Run Derby, which will fulfill the wish of his oldest son, 11-year-old Brix, to deliver a towel and a drink during his breaks.
“Out of everybody there, all the people he’s going to see, that’s what he wants and cares about. So it’s the small things that add up to the big ones,” Buxton said.
With five of his 20 home runs leading off the game for the Twins, Buxton has 14 career leadoff homers to tie Chuck Knoblauch for the fourth-most in Twins history. He’s also one of only six players in the major leagues this season with at least 15 homers and 15 steals.
Buxton ranks among the top 10 batters in the American League in slugging percentage, OPS, triples, homers, runs, RBIs and steals, plus a number of other advanced statistics while providing his usual Gold Glove-caliber defense in center. He is 16 for 16 on stolen-base attempts, too, as sure of a sign his hips and knees are as healthy as ever. With 109 steals in 121 career attempts, Buxton is the only player in Major League Baseball history with more than 100 attempts and a 90% or better success rate.
His home run on June 11 was measured at 479 feet, the second-longest in MLB this season and the longest of his career. The only setback was a concussion that cost him 11 games in May, stemming from an outfield collision with teammate Carlos Correa. After topping the 100-game mark in 2024 for only the second time in his career, Buxton has not only built on that injury-prevention progress but experienced the full benefits of being consistently healthy enough to play. Only twice has Baldelli slotted Buxton as the designated hitter this year.
“Once you get those at-bats and get back into the groove of things, you tend to start taking off,” Buxton said.
The Twins, who took a 43-47 record into their three-game series starting Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs, would be in big trouble without him.
“He does it at the highest level, everything he does,” Correa said. "He’s fun. He’s electric, full of energy, and our team needs that.”
There are no other Twins players heading to Atlanta, yet at least. There's still a chance some players pull out of the game due to injury concerns and a player like Joe Ryan, who's been one of the AL's best pitchers, could get a call.
"Byron Buxton named to the Major League Baseball All-Star game, representing the American League, awesome and we knew he was gonna go," WCCO's nighttime sports host Henry Lake says. "The question was, was anybody else gonna go with? No other Twin made it and I feel like at this particular point, it's the right call. The only other player that I would have said was worthy was Joe Ryan. Outside of that, nobody got snubbed."
Twins host the Chicago Cubs to start a three-game series:
Chicago Cubs (54-36, first in the NL Central) vs. Minnesota Twins (43-47, third in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Tuesday, 6:40 p.m. Pregame 6:00 p.m. on 830 WCCO and the Audacy app (in-market restrictions apply)
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Shota Imanaga (5-2, 2.78 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 41 strikeouts); Twins: Simeon Woods Richardson (4-4, 4.41 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 55 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cubs -143, Twins +119; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Twins begin a three-game series at home against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
Minnesota has a 43-47 record overall and a 24-18 record in home games. The Twins have a 20-36 record in games when they have given up a home run.
Chicago is 54-36 overall and 24-20 in road games. The Cubs have the seventh-ranked team ERA in the NL at 3.78.
The matchup Tuesday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ty France has 15 doubles and six home runs for the Twins. Byron Buxton is 9 for 41 with two doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.
Seiya Suzuki leads the Cubs with 25 home runs while slugging .561. Michael Busch is 17 for 34 with six home runs and 11 RBIs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 5-5, .210 batting average, 3.62 ERA, even run differential
Cubs: 7-3, .273 batting average, 2.83 ERA, outscored opponents by 29 runs
INJURIES: Twins: Bailey Ober: 15-Day IL (hip), Pablo Lopez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Zebby Matthews: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Luke Keaschall: 60-Day IL (forearm)
Cubs: Jameson Taillon: 15-Day IL (calf), Miguel Amaya: 10-Day IL (oblique), Eli Morgan: 60-Day IL (elbow), Javier Assad: 60-Day IL (oblique), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow)
The Associated Press contributed to this story.