Byron Buxton day-to-day with hip discomfort, offseason surgery possible

Byron Buxton left Tuesday's loss to the Athletics early with right hip discomfort and has not appeared in a game since, and the Twins are weighing whether he will need surgery once the season ends. General manager Jeremy Zoll told reporters on Friday that Buxton undergoing hip surgery in the offseason "is definitely a potential option as we sort through everything," per MLB Trade Rumors. The club is hoping to avoid a third hip-related injured-list stint for Buxton this season — a hope that, given the circumstances, is doing a fair amount of heavy lifting.

What happened

Buxton exited early in Tuesday's game with right hip discomfort, per MLB Trade Rumors. He has not appeared in a game since. The hope, according to Zoll's remarks, is that Buxton will avoid another IL placement this year — he has already been on the shelf twice this season for hip issues.

Buxton first landed on the injured list on July 7 with a right hip strain. He returned approximately two weeks later, only to go back on the IL on July 29 with a right hip impingement. The Twins activated him on August 13, but the discomfort that forced him out of Tuesday's game has kept him sidelined since. Three hip-related stints in a single season would be a grim milestone; the Twins are trying to stop the count where it is.

Why it matters

The Twins are navigating the final weeks of the season with a center fielder whose availability has been uncertain all summer. Buxton has appeared in 93 games this year, putting him on pace for a fourth season of 100-plus games since he debuted in 2015 — a threshold he has reached only three times in his career, per MLB Trade Rumors. The hip problems have limited him throughout the second half, and the discomfort that surfaced Tuesday has now extended his absence into the weekend.

The decision on surgery will wait until the offseason, but the fact that it is already being discussed publicly suggests the discomfort has been persistent enough to warrant a longer-term solution. Zoll's framing — "as we sort through everything" — indicates the club is still in the process of evaluating the situation rather than having arrived at a conclusion. A report is not a plan, and a potential option is not a scheduled procedure. What it is, plainly, is a signal that rest alone may not be the answer.

Buxton is 32 years old, and the former No. 2 overall pick has spent much of his career in the familiar company of the injured list. The hip has now become the central concern, with two separate diagnoses — a strain in July and an impingement later that same month — bookending a brief return that ended Tuesday.

Where the club stands

The Twins are 68-74, sitting third in the AL Central and six games back of the division lead. They rank seventh in the Wild Card race, 3.5 games behind the cut line, and enter the weekend having won their last game.

The schedule ahead is manageable on paper. Minnesota hosts the Chicago White Sox on Saturday and Sunday at Target Field, with Bailey Ober scheduled against Erick Fedde on Saturday and Zebby Matthews lined up opposite Jordan Hicks on Sunday. The series shifts to a Detroit Tigers matchup on Monday, with Taj Bradley projected to start against Jackson Jobe.

A 3.5-game deficit with weeks remaining is not an impossible gap to close, but it is not a comfortable one either. The Twins are trying to stay within range of the Wild Card while managing a center fielder whose status is day-to-day and whose long-term health may require offseason intervention. Those two things are not necessarily in conflict — but they are not entirely separate, either.

What we don't know yet

The Twins have not indicated whether Buxton will play again this season. Zoll expressed hope that he will avoid another IL stint, but the club has not provided a timetable for his return. Surgery remains a potential option, not a scheduled one, and the reporting from MLB Trade Rumors preserves that uncertainty explicitly.

The decision on a procedure will not be made until after the season, per the report. The Twins are still sorting through the situation, which means the severity of the impingement, the effectiveness of rest and treatment, and the likelihood of recurrence are all still being weighed. None of those assessments have been made public.

It is also worth noting that general roster mechanics give the club some flexibility here. Under standard league rules, the 10-day injured list is available for position players, and a transfer to the 60-day IL is an option if the club determines a longer absence is necessary — though no such move has been reported for Buxton at this time.

What to watch

Whether Buxton returns to the lineup this weekend against the White Sox will be the first indicator of how the Twins are managing the discomfort. If he does not play, the question becomes whether the club places him on the IL again or continues to carry him as day-to-day through the final stretch of the regular season.

The offseason decision on surgery will depend on how the hip responds to rest and what the club's medical staff concludes about the underlying issue. Zoll's willingness to name surgery as a potential option in a public setting, rather than deflecting entirely, is worth noting — it suggests the conversation is already substantive, even if no decision has been reached.

For now, the Twins are trying to keep Buxton available without compounding the problem. The next few days will offer the clearest early read on whether that remains a realistic goal.