It has been a season full of ups and downs for the Minnesota Twins.
A sluggish start put the team behind the pack out of the gate, but we all watched Minnesota storm back with a vengance. A 12-game winning streak helped get things back on track and the offense started to hit in ways it failed to last summer.
None of that was sustainable, though. For as many games as the Twins won it felt like they came right back down to earth shortly after. It's one of the reasons they're the streakiest team in baseball but it's also why they're in the thick of the AL Central race with a month left to go in the season.
Along the way the Twins answered a few questions that have already been answered that had been lingering in the back of everyone's mind, but still have a pretty big one looming on the horizon.
Can Byron Buxton play centerfield again?
Prior to the 2024 season, the Twins decided that they were done playing scared with Byron Buxton and were going to let him be the centerfielder again. While he has experienced a couple injuries this year, none of them have been serious and the experiment feels like an overall success.
Buxton has looked like Byron Buxton again. He’s play 90 games (already more than his 2023 total), 82 of these in center. He’s hitting .275 with 16 home runs an .862 OPS compared to his .207, 17, and .731 marks last season.
Quite possibly the most impressive piece of this puzzle is that the defense hasn’t missed a beat. His savant fielding metrics are bright red (not to mention his quality of contact numbers too) with all of them grading above the 80th percentile. He has a respectable 4 outs above average and looks like the Byron Buxton we remember roaming the outfield.
Byron Buxton has his 3rd multi-homer game this season! pic.twitter.com/32yLnUoH6W
— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2024
Buxton’s defense is elite, his bat is improved, and he’s played more games. Returning him to center field has undoubtedly been a success.