MINNEAPOLIS — Byron Buxton has opened the offseason in a familiar place, working his way back from another injury, though this time the early signs have given him reason to feel encouraged. The Twins center fielder had surgery earlier this month to address an impingement in his right hip and began physical therapy the following day.
Buxton remains on crutches as he starts the rehabilitation process, with Minnesota hoping the procedure puts him on track for the 2027 season. For now, though, he is keeping the target much closer than Opening Day. The next marker is simple: walking without assistance.
“It’s been good,” Buxton said. “I feel better. It’s good to be able to feel a little bit better since then. I’m moving around a little bit, so that’s progress, for sure.”
The hip issue had already disrupted his season twice. Buxton went on the injured list in separate stints as the club tried to calm the condition and allow him to play without restriction. When the discomfort returned again, the decision was made to shut him down and move forward with surgery.
He is not spending much time measuring his recovery against a calendar. Buxton said he did not seek a detailed timetable from the medical staff, preferring to handle each stage as it arrives.
“I didn’t ask” for a timeline, he said. “My biggest thing right now is, one, just being able to get back to walking. I’m on crutches. When I start walking, I’ll start going through the next step.”
Buxton expects to reach that walking stage within the next several days. From there, the work will build gradually, moving from basic mobility into the larger demands of preparing an elite center fielder’s body for another season.
A better early report after hip surgery
The operation was arthroscopic, a procedure that allows surgeons to evaluate and treat the hip through small incisions. Buxton said he did not have a lengthy post-operation breakdown of every detail found during the procedure, but he was told the surgery went well and that the early recovery has been more manageable than he anticipated.
“They told me what the progress was and what to expect afterward,” Buxton said. “It hasn’t been as painful as I thought it would be. There are a lot of positives in there that didn’t happen that they told me.”
That is the small win Buxton is carrying into the winter: less pain, a little more movement, and a recovery plan that begins with getting off crutches before asking anything more of the right hip. For a player accustomed to pushing through the daily demands of the big leagues, this offseason begins with patience.
