Final season, regardless of his staff’s struggles, Byron Buxton set profession highs in plate appearances (542), residence runs (35), runs (97), RBI (83), hits (129), and WAR (5.0). He solely performed in 126 video games, his second-highest single-season complete, as a result of he made two separate journeys to the injured listing. We noticed sufficient of him in 2025 to understand his astonishing skills, but on the similar time, his presence was a reminder of the profession which may’ve been if solely he hadn’t gotten damage a lot.
Luckily, Buxton is wholesome once more this season. As of Friday morning, he has performed in 64 of the Twins’ 76 video games this 12 months. That may not seem to be rather a lot, however that works out to a tempo of 136 video games. Crucially, regardless of coping with a couple of minor accidents, he has averted the IL thus far in 2026. He’s on observe to hit 49 residence runs and accumulate simply shy of 6 WAR. ZiPS and our Depth Charts each undertaking him to decelerate a little bit bit, however they nonetheless peg him for not less than 45 homers and proper round 5 WAR. That may be a formidable season for anyone, however particularly for an injury-prone 32-year-old heart fielder.
That bit on Buxton is all you’ll hear from me this weekend. I’m on trip as you’re studying this, and Meg Rowley is dealing with mailbag modifying duties whereas I’m gone. This week, we’re answering your questions on Juan Soto’s slower swing pace, the groups which have the best all-time variations between participant WAR and franchise wins, and whether or not an American League staff will make the playoffs with a dropping file. However first, I’d prefer to remind you that this mailbag is unique to FanGraphs Members. In the event you aren’t but a Member and want to hold studying, you may join a Membership right here. It’s one of the simplest ways to each expertise the location and assist our workers, and it comes with a bunch of different nice advantages. Additionally, should you’d prefer to ask a query for an upcoming mailbag, ship me an e mail at mailbag@fangraphs.com.
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