Inside The Twins

Twins' Byron Buxton not in the lineup for a second straight game

Buxton is away from the team for personal reasons and it's not related to his health.

Joe Nelson

Apr 3, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (25) hits an infield single against the Houston Astros during first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
Apr 3, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (25) hits an infield single against the Houston Astros during first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images / Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
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After the Twins beat the Royals without Byron Buxton in the lineup Wednesday night, they're going to try and do the same again Thursday afternoon. According to the Twins, Buxton is away from the team for personal reasons and it's not related to his health.

The starting lineup:

  1. Matt Wallner, RF
  2. Willi Castro, 2B
  3. Carlos Correa, SS
  4. Trevor Larnach, LF
  5. Ty France, 1B
  6. Ryan Jeffers, C
  7. Eddy Julien, DH
  8. Jose Miranda, 3B
  9. Harrison Bader, CF

Before learning of Buxton's personal reason for being away, we speculated about what might be going on. Here's what we wrote.

Is he possibly sore after crashing into the outfield wall on Monday? He did hit the wall hard when attempting to track down Jonathan India's double to start Monday's game between the Twins and Royals. But he stayed in the game and played again Tuesday — and the Twins have said nothing about Buxton's health to indicate something might be wrong.

Is Buxton just out of the lineup because he's struggling? He's 7-for-41 with 16 strikeouts this season.

And his whiff rate — 46.1% — is in the bottom one percentile this season, meaning he's swinging and missing as much as pretty much any player in the majors. He's whiffing on 59.1% of the time on breaking balls, 55.6% against offspeed pitches, and 37.8% of the time on fastballs, according to Baseball Savant.

Buxton is also 0-for-7 with two strikeouts in his career against Royals starter Michael Wacha. But batter versus pitcher stats clearly aren't factoring much into the lineup because Christian Vazquez isn't starting and he's 7-for-13 lifetime against Wacha.

Maybe we'll learn more, but for now this just appears to be Buxton sitting on getaway day before the Twins host the Tigers at Target Field Friday-Sunday.

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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Joe Nelson has more than 20 years of experience in Minnesota sports journalism. Nelson began his career in sports radio, working at smaller stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before moving to the highly-rated KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. While there, he produced the popular mid-morning show hosted by Minnesota Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen. His time in radio laid the groundwork for his transition to sports writing in 2011. He covers the Vikings, Timberwolves, Gophers and Twins for On SI.

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