Byron Buxton is finally returning to the Twins lineup on Friday

For the first time since mid-August, the Minnesota Twins will have Byron Buxton in the lineup this weekend.

Buxton has been out since August 12th with a hip injury that sent him to the IL and forced him to miss the most amount of games he has all season. It's an injury that came at perhaps the worst possible time, as Minnesota is in the thick of a postseason race that it's desperately trying to remain a part of.

Snapping a four game losing streak and turning around a slump that saw the team lose 16 of 21 games is a good way to reverse the vibes, and getting Buxton back will only further help the cause.

That's going to happen on Friday, as the Twins announced after its victory over the Angels on Wednesday that the next game the team plays will feature Buxton in the lineup. It was also revealed that Austin Martin would be heading back to St. Paul to make room on the roster.

Twins are getting Byron Buxton back at exactly the right time

It's hard to overstate how huge it is for the Twins to be getting Buxton back now. The Twins have been vacillating between treading water in the AL Playoff picture and starting to drown; just three games separates them from the Detroit Tigers and being on the outside looking in.

That's not where things stood when Buxton went on the IL. Minnesota was chasing down both Cleveland for first place in the AL Central and were within striking distance of having the best record in the American League.

Since Buxton went down, though, the Twins have started to trend hard in the wrong direction. Losing 16 out of 21 games didn't help their cause, but somehow they managed to get lucky with both the Guardians and Royals running into issues of their own.

Now Minnesota gets one of its best players back at the most critical juncture of the season. The Twins have begin a four game series against Cleveland on Monday that is followed by a weekend series against the Red Sox. Depending on how things break, the Twins could either have surged back to the top of the AL Central or have their season pushed to the brink.

Either way, Buxton being back means a better foot will be put forward. If the Twins can also get Carlos Correa back, then the team will truly be cooking as October approaches.

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