Buxton Returns to Twins Lineup Against Yankees; Hip Issue Recurs but Clears Testing

Byron Buxton returned to the Twins' lineup Saturday against the Yankees after missing four games with right hip impingement. The 32-year-old center fielder batted second and passed a full slate of baseball activities Friday before being cleared by manager Derek Shelton, who said Thursday's off-day proved "very helpful" in his recovery. The injury was a recurrence of a similar hip issue that cost Buxton five games in mid-May, though this one cropped up during last weekend's series at Colorado when Buxton noticed his swing felt compromised.

The distinction between the two occurrences is operationally important. In May, the impingement bothered him most on the basepaths—the explosive stopping and acceleration that come with running. This iteration hit him in the box, a sign that the mechanical issue has shifted slightly or that the inflammation is more centrally positioned. Both cleared quickly enough that he avoided the injured list entirely, suggesting the Twins and Buxton are managing it as a day-to-day inflammatory response rather than structural damage. A full baseball workout—live swings, fielding, running—served as the final clearance gate, not a simulated protocol.

Buton's underlying season validates the caution. Through 73 games, he owns a .898 OPS with 25 home runs and a .573 slugging percentage. Those numbers put him on pace for a third All-Star selection, with rosters announced Saturday evening. The power is real—his 25 HRs already represents a strong pace—and his .325 on-base mark, while not elite, is earned through contact, not strikeout suppression. He's managed to sustain this production without a single IL stint, which is itself notable for a player with his injury history.

From a betting perspective, Buxton's return creates two distinct angles. First, his presence in the No. 2 hole and center field restores a proven run-creation engine for Minnesota in a series where run-scoring environment matters—Yankee Stadium's short porch favors left-handed pull power, which neither Buxton nor the Twins lineup heavily features, so the park plays to Minnesota's opposite-field approach. Second, hip impingement is an inflammation-based condition that typically regresses or recurs if the underlying mechanical issue persists; the fact that this is the second occurrence in 10 weeks signals that complete resolution may not have happened in May. His prop usage in the coming week should account for that recurrence risk—not as a reason to fade him entirely, but as a reason to shade his durability on props requiring multi-game consistency. Single-game hit or run totals are cleaner bets than 5+ or 10+ game player props where a sudden absence would crater the sample.