Byron Buxton, Alex Kirilloff unsure about offseason surgery

Byron Buxton admitted he had chills when he received an ovation from the crowd after he was introduced as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning of Wednesday's ALDS Game 4 against Houston.

It didn't turn into a storybook moment when Buxton hit a popup to first base, the end of a frustrating season for Buxton, who was exclusively a designated hitter and limited to 85 games because of injuries, notably pain in his right knee.

"Whatever it takes to just get me right, that's all that matters to me right now," Buxton said.

Buxton, 29, isn't sure what the next step entails with his knee. When the playoffs started, he told the Twins training staff his sole focus was returning in the postseason.

Does he expect to undergo surgery on his knee?

"Who knows?" Buxton said. "I have to see how the tests, scans and all that stuff go. Now, I guess it's time for me to worry about all that. I told them not to bring any of that up while we were here in the playoffs."

Alex Kirilloff was removed from the Twins' playoff roster Wednesday because of pain in his right shoulder. It's the same injury that sidelined him for more than a month after the All-Star break.

Kirilloff acknowledged he might require shoulder surgery, but it is his non-throwing arm, so he was told it's not a lengthy rehab process.

"Something I was obviously dealing with for a while but it gets to the point where you can't be effective with it," Kirilloff said. "We're going to see the doctor next and have it addressed."

Carlos Correa planned to meet with the Twins medical staff to make sure his left foot heals properly after playing through plantar fasciitis over the last five months of the season.

"I don't ever want to experience another season where I have to play through it," he said.

Correa won't need surgery on his foot, but he expects to undergo surgery on his nose.

"I've got a deviated septum problem, turbinates and all that," said Correa, who had surgery for his septum in 2018. "They're probably going to do two surgeries on my nose to fix it. I'm getting old, so it's hard to breathe now."