In front of a large crowd of fans at TwinsFest Live on Friday night, Byron Buxton showed no hesitation in his answer when asked when asked by television announcer Cory Provus if he would be back in center field this upcoming season.

“Oh yeah,” he said to the group. “I’m back.”

Buxton did not play a single major league game in center field last season because of a knee issue that has disrupted multiple seasons. He spent most of the season serving as the team’s designated hitter before landing on the injured list with a hamstring strain and then suffering a setback with the knee during a rehab assignment.

But after a second surgery this offseason, this one an arthroscopic procedure to excise the plica in his right knee, Buxton said the rehab “feels money,” and he’s ready to return to the field.

“My body tells me that,” he said Saturday at TwinsFest. “I wouldn’t have said that if I wasn’t sure.”

At home in Georgia, Buxton said his typical day starts with therapy around 8 a.m. At 10 o’clock, he goes to the field and participates in baseball activities. By noon, he is home, playing with his three sons, Brixton, Blaze and Baire. Buxton is also working with his longtime track coach.

While Buxton, now 30, accepted his role last year, from time to time he would mention the mental challenges that strictly being limited to DH presented to him.

“I’m 29, I’m DHing and I know I’m not supposed to be DHing,” he said. “It’s different because your mind is telling you to go to center so you’re not buying into DH.”

But that was his reality because even just getting himself to a spot where he felt ready to hit was a challenge. He estimated he would spend from 1-4 p.m. in the training room and then head to the weight room for an hour.

“Every day I came in, it was like, ‘Oh, you’ve got to go to the training room You’ve got to do this,’ ” he said. “It was numerous things with the knee. One day it could be my hip. One day it could be my knee. One day it could be my hamstring. But that’s the effect you have when (you’re) battling and you try to play.”

Buxton eventually landed on the injured list in early August and did not return until the Twins’ final playoff game, when he received one at-bat and felt the love from the fans at Target Field, who started buzzing the minute he stepped out on deck.

And now, after his second surgery on his knee, Buxton sees center field on the horizon — “nothing makes me happier than playing the outfield” — and is more than ready for it.

“It feels good. Things feel back to … as close to normal as it’s going to get,” Buxton said. “So you take the positive … and you kind of run with it.”

Kirilloff, Miranda progressing

A pair of infielders who both had offseason surgery reported to TwinsFest with positive prognoses to speak of.

Alex Kirilloff underwent a bursectomy in October — a less invasive procedure than the Twins once feared he might need — and said he started to swing earlier this month and has now progressed through the early stages of that and is ramping up.

“I’m excited with that now,” he said. “There’s some room to kind of polish some things up and be ready to go for the live at-bats in February and hopefully be ready for the time we start playing spring training games. It’s going really well so far.”

Jose Miranda, likewise, had an October procedure on his shoulder. Miranda started feeling pain in his shoulder during spring training and it plagued him throughout the 2023 season, which essentially was a lost one for the now-25-year-old.

The Twins sent Miranda to Birmingham, Ala., for surgery in September. His doctor told him he thought there might be a chance to avoid a procedure, so Miranda settled in for a few weeks and worked with a physical therapist. The pain persisted, though, and Miranda eventually underwent what he called a cleanup procedure on Oct. 4. He has been hitting and throwing as he ramps his activity level back up.

“It’s a process but there are some days it feels good, some days it feels so so, so yeah, just trying to get ready and be there for spring training, Miranda said.

As the pair get themselves ready for spring training, shortstop Carlos Correa has been receiving videos of both of his younger teammates hitting. Correa likes “to be informed” so hitting coach David Popkins has been sending over clips of the infielders, and the veteran has liked what he’s seen.

“They look really good, man,” Correa said.

Related Articles

Former general manager Terry Ryan, longtime coach Rick Stelmaszek elected to Twins Hall of Fame

Just 58 single-team players among 273 in Hall of Fame after addition of Joe Mauer and Todd Helton

From neighborhood playgrounds to Cooperstown, St. Paul has produced four baseball hall of famers

Among catchers, newly-elected hall of famer Joe Mauer finds himself in rare air

From St. Paul to the Hall: A timeline of Joe Mauer’s Twins career