Buxton: 'My goal is to be present and available'

KANSAS CITY -- To be clear, this is not a finish line of any sort. It is, in fact, merely the starting line to another long, long season.

But the fact that Byron Buxton is getting ready to suit up and return to center field for a game that matters on Thursday -- his first since Aug. 22, 2022 -- is undoubtedly significant, though Buxton refuses to take any sense of accomplishment from merely completing a healthy Spring Training schedule.

“No, because last year I started out like this, and I felt pretty good, and things didn’t go my way,” Buxton said.

Buxton's pockmarked injury history isn’t even worth reiterating at this point, and his constant goal over the years of simply trying to stay healthy enough to allow his immense natural talent to speak on the field for a full season hasn’t panned out. So he’s reframing that goal this year, with perhaps the best shot he’s had in a while to make that come to fruition.

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“My goal is to be present and available -- not ‘healthy,’” he said. “If I’m present and available, that means I’m playing every day. If I’m playing every day, my numbers will be where they’re supposed to be.”

This time last year, the Twins had already made the decision to have Buxton DH only due to continued pain in his right knee. This time two years ago, the roots of the knee issues that would plague Buxton for the better part of two seasons had already taken hold.

Either way, he’s not trying to think too hard about it. He’s not putting any more pressure on himself to pursue that goal. He just wants to go play. That’s what the Twins let him do this spring, when they mostly treated him as they did any other player and built him up normally. He started 10 games in center field, and three at designated hitter.

“He's been moving well,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He's been swinging the bat really, really well. I think we have to be very pleased with what we've seen from him this spring, the way he showed up, the way he obviously worked this offseason and got himself ready to come in. … We're beyond excited with what we were able to see from him.”

He hit well, too, finishing the spring 11-for-35 with a .314/.368/.600 slash line, including a homer, three doubles and even two triples (both in the same game), a seeming indication that his biggest area of pain last season -- the running -- is back where it needs to be.

And if this is any indication of his confidence, Buxton is already crowing about a stolen-base competition with Willi Castro (who had 33 last year) and expects to be active on the basepaths from the get-go.

“Every Opening Day is exciting, but I guess going back to center field is a little bit more exciting,” Buxton said. “I don’t have to worry about dang DH-ing for three hours and not getting a hit. Now I can go out there and steal some hits. It’s obviously way different for me once I can be able to play center. It’s been a lot more fun.”

It’s way different for the guys on the mound, too, who are, needless to say, thrilled at the prospect of getting a former Platinum Glove Award winner back in his outfield slot.

“I'm excited to see Byron Buxton playing center field,” Opening Day starter Pablo López said. “I'm used to seeing a bunch of highlights. Now, seeing it in person is going to be awesome. He loves it out there. He's having the time of his life.”

“I think everyone's spirits are very high and very encouraged by that,” Bailey Ober said.

Buxton and the Twins have been down this road before, with unfortunate results, over and over again, but this is as good a starting point as the Twins could have hoped for in seeing how much Buxton, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis can perhaps do together.

“I guess at the end of the year, we’ll find out,” Buxton said. “We know how good we are and we know what we can do. It’s all about us, like I said, being present and available.”

How about what he thinks he’s capable of this year as an individual?

“Anything I put my mind to."