It’s safe to say that Byron Buxton is back.
After spending 10 days on the injured list, Buxton returned to the Minnesota Twins lineup and promptly fell into a nasty 0-for-24 slump. It felt about as close to rock bottom as things could get, as Buxton’s slump was representative of the Twins struggles to muster anything up.
For the first time this season, the Twins fell comfortably under .500 and seemed to be digging themselves a hole they might not be able to get out of. This, of course, prompted widespread panic throughout Twins Territory since the sky felt like it was falling.
The lowest point might have been manager Rocco Baldelli plainly admitting that Buxton is physically unable to play centerfield right now. That felt like a final straw, but Buxton has since responded by going on a historic tear.
Buxton snapped out of that streak during the Twins most recent series against the Red Sox, ripping off a 5-for-9 streak that included two monster home runs on Thursday afternoon.
Byron Buxton made history with back-to-back home runs against Red Sox
Not only did Buxton hit homers in back-to-back plate appearances, but he hit both of them further than 460-feet.
Okay, it looks like Byron Buxton has seriously flipped the switch.
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) June 22, 2023
Another absolute tank to the upper deck in left-center field.
He has hit homers of 466 and 465 feet today in consecutive at-bats. Crazy. pic.twitter.com/wRDHlMaCez
There’s almost too much to love about this, but the headliner is that those two Buxton home runs have put him in the history books. Buxton the first player to hit multiple home runs of more than 460-feet in the same game since Statcast started tracking that data.
For those unaware, the Statcast era dates back to 2015.
Not only did those two homers put Buxton in the history books, it continued a trend this season that shows how dominant he can be. He now owns the three longest home runs of the year for a Twins player.
Longest #MNTwins homers of the season:
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) June 22, 2023
1. 466 feet - Byron Buxton, today (1st inning)
2. 465 feet - Byron Buxton, today (3rd inning)
3. 453 feet - Byron Buxton, April 30
But wait, there’s more.
Buxton’s first home run of the day was good for the second-longest of his career and it marked the first time since May that both Buxton and Carlos Correa homered in the same game.
Needless to say, the Twins won Thursday’s game 6-0 and have climbed back to .500 after two straight wins. It shouldn’t be viewed as a coincidence that Buxton’s awakening has lined up with the Twins bouncing back and is hopefully a sign of things to come.