Byron Buxton's hip won't let him stay on the field

Byron Buxton's summer has turned into a loop. He missed nine games and the All-Star Game with a right hip impingement, got activated on July 20, and lasted exactly seven games before his body said no again. He left in the 5th inning of a 3-2 win over the Royals on July 28, and a day later the Twins made it official.

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Twins Place Byron Buxton On 10-Day IL With Right Hip Impingement t.co/S1Q8a73RfB

This is the second trip to the IL for the same hip in a matter of weeks, and the numbers from his brief return make it obvious he was never right. Buxton hit.160 with zero extra-base hits in those seven games back, a far cry from the.263 average and 25 home runs he'd put up before the hip first flared. He hasn't gone deep since June 22.

The bigger picture makes this sting more. Buxton signed a 7-year, $100 million deal with Minnesota back in December 2021, and durability has been the one thing that's chased him his entire career even when the bat and glove have been elite. At 32, a recurring hip issue isn't the kind of thing that just clears up with 10 days of rest — it's the kind of injury that tends to linger.

The timing lines up with the trade deadline, which only raises the stakes. The Twins sat at 54-54 and 2 games back of the White Sox in the AL Central when the IL move dropped, squarely in that murky buy-or-sell zone teams hate being in. According to reporting, the club has said it has no plans to trade Buxton, who carries a full no-trade clause and has made clear he wants to stay in Minnesota.

Whether that stance holds if the hip keeps flaring is the real question. A center fielder who can't stay on the field for more than a week at a time isn't much use to a fringe contender, and fantasy managers who've been riding Buxton's power surge all year now have to plan around him missing at least another 10 days, if not longer. Minnesota recalled infielder Tristan Gray from Triple-A St. Paul to fill the roster spot, but nobody's replacing what Buxton brings when he's actually healthy.