Twins center fielder Byron Buxton is undergoing surgery to fix his left (non-throwing) shoulder labrum, skipper Rocco Baldelli told reporters including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). That’ll obviously end his 2019 season.
It had emerged earlier today that some kind of surgical outcome was likely. But this still represents a major development in the situation. Precise details of Buxton’s procedure remain unknown — and will depend upon what’s found by surgeons — but the baseline expectation is of a five-to-six-month recovery process. (Via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com, on Twitter.)
Spring Training will begin in mid-February of 2020. That’ll be right at the six-month mark from today’s procedure. Depending upon the severity of the damage, extent of the work, and course of rehab, it seems Buxton’s full availability at the outset of camp is possible but hardly assured.
The Twins will be gathering information on Buxton’s progress and outlook throughout the rehab process. But the club is going to have to account for the uncertainty in some manner. Just how it might impact the offseason decisionmaking remains to be seen.
As we examined further in the above-linked story, this news will force the Twins into a sub-optimal outfield alignment down the stretch and into the postseason. It takes a player out of the mix who had been playing at a 5 to 6 WAR full-season pace. Looking forward, Buxton’s limited playing time will limit his ability to secure a big raise on top of his current salary of $1.75MM, though his strong offensive numbers will certainly support a bump. A Super Two qualifier this year, Buxton remains eligible to go through the arb process three more times.
Frahm_
Could be in for a big 2020 if he stays healthy. Very successful year despite the injuries.
Briffle2
Literally same thing is said every year of his career.
PopeMarley
Shades of Greg Oden.
Briffle2
I think Oden would have loved to have Buxton’s career.
axisofhonor25
I second that notion. It’s been the same hype story each year. This was the boom or bust year for Buxton. If I’m Minnesota I’m moving on.
jd396
“…if he stays healthy.”
The baseball gods have an entire floor of their office building dedicated to players in this category.
dray16
that’s a full year of recovery, good luck having a good year in 2020, more like 2021
martras
Byron Buxton is the kind of player you can count on for 80-120 games a season. It should be brutally obvious to everybody this guy will never be able to shake his injury prone status.
Chronic wrist injuries.
Chronic back injuries.
Chronic migraine issues.
Plus all the other ailments which impact him like other players from hamstrings to shoulder labrums and he seems to suffer at a heightened rate as well.
impapad17
That’s 5 months from now, not 6.
sufferforsnakes
Labrum does not heal easily. I know from experience.
Lucky-Arm28
Yankees will trade for him and give him 7 years
chicagofan1978
Isn’t that what Jimmy Nelson had?
kripes-brewers
Jimmy had labrum surgery, yes. However he tore it sliding into a base. It sounds like this is worse on pitchers when it is tore due to pitching. It certainly will affect Burton’s ability to throw from center, but I’d think it’s more about a pitcher’s fine mechanics and repeatable motion. Jimmy also seems to be doing better now, but he’s also 2 years away from his procedure.
martras
NON THROWING shoulder, dude.
chicagofan1978
Yeah I missed the non throwing part, wondering if it will effect his swing though. But we will see next year
chicagofan1978
Yeah I missed the non throwing part.
fletch
Should have taken the Mets offer for Thor.
nick effing punto
Royce Lewis to CF
bigwestbaseball
Miguel Andujar of the Yankees had this surgery in April.
DTD
This guy is essentially a bust. If you’re not on the field, you’re useless.
wjf010
3 more years of team control.when he has been on the field, he hasn’t been a bust. So annoying hearing him called a bust. Fragile, yes. Bust, no
martras
Really? Maybe you care to elaborate on how Buxton hasn’t been a bust? A good center fielder is a 3.0 WAR player, at least.
Buxton actual fWAR and 150G extrapolated fWAR
2015 = 0.1, 0.3 = horrible both actual and 150G
2016 = 1.5, 2.4 = poor in actual and serviceable at 150G
2017 = 3.6, 3.9 = solid in his 140G, good at 150G.
2018 = (0.3), (1.6) = might as well name him Chris Davis…
2019 = 2.7, 4.7 = serviceable or very good at 150G.
In 5 seasons where Buxton was expected to have extended playing time or be the starter, he’s accumulated a grand total of 7.5 fWAR.
Since he can’t reliably play more than half a season at the MLB level, he’s a bust. Since when he does play, he’s just as often replacement level as he is good, he’s a bust.
buckeye46
Never mind the fact that he’s only a .237 career hitter, doesn’t walk enough (6% walk rate), and is an average base runner. For someone who was once touted as the best prospect in all of baseball, I’d say that fits the definition of bust.
Lucky-Arm28
He didn’t get an extension for a reason
bigstein09
My growing or non? That’s a pretty big detail especially considering his defensive prowess.
cygnus2112
Shocking….. Hate to say it but dude is super injury prone & being a right handed platoon outfielder and late inning defensive replacement/base runner might be his best course moving forward!
Ejemp2006
He is less valuable than Arizona’s Dyson.
martras
Bet the Twins are seriously rethinking the decision not to offer Buxton to the Mets for Thor now…
Pablo
I wouldn’t even say buxton is fragile. He just makes poor decisions. Running 30ft/sec into a wall without bracing yourself or going that fast and just throwing your body out for a hard landing just isn’t smart. The ironic thing is that before the season speed and defense was his only skill. This year the twins would probably love to have his bat in the lineup right now instead of a highlight reel catch.
Rezonator
I don’t think Buxton is the sharpest tool in the tool shed.