Twins’ Byron Buxton glad for ‘learning curve’ with last year’s injury

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Besides the many maladies Byron Buxton has endured and overcome during his career, it seemed Saturday that the world-class outfielder may be suffering from another one: Stockholm syndrome.

The Twins star, who took part in his first workout of the spring, described his condition last year as “feeling like a knife is in your knee every morning.” Yet Buxton also said “the pain was a learning curve, something I’m glad I went through.”

Hmm. Perhaps that’s simply the giddiness talking, the obvious bliss Buxton displayed over starting a spring camp pain-free for the first time since 2021. It’s doubtful the Twins or Buxton’s many fans were glad he limped through the season in obvious discomfort and always about 300 feet away from his preferred baseball home in center field.

Buxton, though, insists that the low points of 2023, and his exile to the designated hitter role exclusively, were still better than sitting out completely. “Say I didn’t try to play last year because I knew I was hurt — maybe I [wouldn’t have had] as much fun when we won a playoff game because I wasn’t a part of it throughout the season,” he said.

Manager Rocco Baldelli said he wasn’t surprised that Buxton doesn’t want to wipe last year from his memory.

“He takes something positive out of everything. Genuinely, he’s going to take something constructive out of what he’s dealt with,” Baldelli said. “He’s probably going to probably enjoy playing the game more than ever.”

Besides, he’s clearly proud that he never gave up, that he endured the pain as long as he could. Especially now that it’s gone.

“The pain’s gone, so I’m a lot more happy, 100 percent. One hundred percent,” Buxton said with emphasis, the product of October surgery to remove the flaps of tissue in his right knee that were hindering his movement and causing his knee to swell. “I’m fully healthy, so that puts my mind at ease, to just go out there and have a normal spring training.”

Well, one thing won’t be normal, at least not for a day or two: catching fly balls. Buxton, who last roamed a big-league outfield on Aug. 22, 2022, said he feels some unexpected apprehension about tracking balls hit his way.

“A little nervous, I guess, for that first fly ball. I’ve not seen a fly ball in a couple of years. It’s pretty nerve-wracking,” said the former Platinum Glove winner as baseball’s best defensive player. “I know I can do it, but I haven’t been out there in a year. I haven’t seen a ground ball that snaked toward me. Keeping my head down, my eyes on the ball — little stuff like that makes you feel prepared.”

Carlos Santana and Willi Castro reported to Twins camp, and immediately took their turns in the batting cage, meaning all 59 players have now arrived. Baldelli said virtually all of the position players will see action immediately when games begin next Friday against the Gophers.

“With the work the guys put in during the offseason, they’re ready in a week. You’ve got to just jump in and play,” Baldelli said. “Most of the guys are going to play in the first two games. A few guys might play [in] game five or six, that might be their first game.”

A half-dozen pitchers threw the camp’s first sessions of live batting practice, a chance to simulate an inning under game conditions against Twins hitters. It used to be a take-it-easy, just-get-comfortable exercise this early in camp, but that’s changed, Baldelli said.

“It’s amazing how they come in shape for spring training,” he said. “It used to be bullpen after bullpen after bullpen after one-inning outing. Not anymore.”

That became immediately clear to the handful of hitters — Carlos Correa, Alex Kirilloff, Max Kepler and Christian Vázquez — who faced Jhoan Duran. The closer’s fastball hit 100 mph a few times and topped out at 101 mph. In mid-February.

Matt Wallner, too, made a quick first impression, crushing a no-doubt home run onto the right-field plaza against lefthander Brent Headrick.