Buxton wants to keep playing through the finish if his body allows it, and that leaves the Twins with a hard call in a crowded wild card race.
Byron Buxton has not played since August 25, and this week he admitted that the right hip that keeps sending him to the injured list will need surgery at some point.
The good news for the Minnesota Twins is that he has no plans to have it yet.
Buxton told the Minnesota Star Tribune that he intends to keep going until the hip stops him again, and that he hopes to help the playoff push if it makes sense.
Minnesota placed him on the 10-day injured list on August 30 with a right hip impingement, backdated to August 27, after he left a game against the Athletics.
It is his third stint on the list since May because of that hip, and per MLB Trade Rumors, the pain goes back years.
What Buxton Said
Buxton said he plans to keep fighting until the hip flares up again, then explained how he sees the rest of the season.
"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. If it makes sense, I'll hopefully be back. That's the plan."
That is the answer to expect from a player who shut down trade talk in plain words at the All-Star break.
This hip has needed three trips to the injured list in two months and is not going to hold up through a September sprint, and the Twins should be careful about asking it to.
What the Twins Lose Without Him
Buxton hit 25 home runs with a .254 average in 93 games and made the All-Star team, but every one of those homers came before the hip first flared up in May, and he has hit .172 with a .203 slugging percentage in 73 plate appearances since.
General manager Jeremy Zoll had already called offseason surgery a real possibility before this latest setback, so the plan Buxton described is the one the front office already had.
Walker Jenkins has started in center field in all six games since his call-up and is 3-for-20 with a home run and four walks, which is a rookie learning on the job, not a replacement for a healthy Buxton.
A Long Road Trip
The Twins are 67-73 and three games behind Cleveland for the third wild card spot with three other clubs in between, after Wednesday's 11-6 loss to Detroit in 12 innings, a game Derek Shelton was honest about.
They open a six-game trip Friday at Rate Field against the first-place White Sox with Zebby Matthews starting, then play three more in Detroit before coming home to face the Guardians.
Help could come from the rotation first, because Joe Ryan, out since early August with a left glute strain, is set to throw a bullpen session Saturday in Chicago, per the Pioneer Press, and Shelton said a start on this trip is on the table.
Ryan would help the next two weeks more than a limited Buxton would, so there is no reason to rush the hip back before it is ready.
