Byron Buxton says offseason surgery on his injured hip is likely, but he hasn’t ruled out returning to play this season.
The Minnesota Twins All-Star outfielder was placed on the injured list on for the third time since the beginning of July this past Sunday.
“Yeah, unfortunately, I know I’m going to have to get [surgery] done at some point,” Buxton told Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune. “I’m going to go until it sparks me up again. Then I’ll know, ‘All right, it’s time, bro.’ Until then, I’m just going to keep fighting.”
The 32-year-old Buxton says he’s been dealing with hip pain since 2021 and, thus far, no treatment has been able to effectively curb it.
“We’ve been battling this for years,” Buxton said. “It’s probably had enough of the shots and treatments. That’s more wear and tear. That’s something we can’t control.”
Still, with the Twins (67-73) still alive in the American League wild-card race, Buxton doesn’t want to close the door on a return in 2026. If healthy enough to play, he will. The Twins currently sit 3.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians (70-69) for the final playoff spot.
“I don’t want to put us in a bad spot, which I won’t, but if I can come back and do the things that I know I can do to help this team, then we’ll have that conversation when it comes,” Buxton said. “If it makes sense, I’ll hopefully be back. That’s the plan.”
A native of Baxley, GA, Buxton is in his 10th big league season. An All-Star for the third time in 2026, he’s batted .254 with 94 hits, 25 home runs, 46 runs batted in and an OPS of 829 in 370 at-bats over 93 games played.
