Buxton Hip Surgery Ends Season

Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right hip and miss the rest of the 2026 season, ESPN reported Friday. Buxton has been on the injured list since Aug. 30 and has landed on the IL three times this year because of hip issues.

That ends another grind for a three-time All-Star who still flashed when healthy. He hit .254 with 25 home runs and 46 RBIs in 93 games at age 32. Minnesota sits third in the AL Central, six games behind the White Sox, with 16 games left entering Friday and 4.5 games back of the last wild-card spot.

Another short season for Buxton

The oft-injured Buxton has played fewer than 100 games in nine of his 12 big-league seasons. This year's hip loop finally forced the knife. The club and ESPN both frame the recovery as spring-training ready, which is the one clean note for Twins fans staring at September without their best defender and power threat in center.

Fantasy managers who rode the 25-homer surge already parked him after the Aug. 30 IL move. The surgery stamp just locks the zero for the rest of the year. Depth pieces in Minnesota's outfield now finish the race without the player who still sets the ceiling when he is on the field.

Twins September without their CF

Sixteen games is a thin window when you are six back in the division and hanging on the wild-card fringe with three other clubs also outside looking in. Buxton's bat and legs were supposed to be the difference in that scramble. Instead the hip that kept putting him on the shelf ends the season on the operating table.

Twins fans have lived this loop before. The power was real. The availability never stayed. Surgery now, spring next. Until then, Minnesota has to climb without the center fielder who still defines what this roster can be on its best nights.

ESPN News Services and the Associated Press both framed the move the same way: arthroscopic work on the right hip, season over, spring training the target. That is the cleanest medical path after three separate IL trips for the same problem. Minnesota already knew the hip was the issue. Friday made the calendar official.

For a fan base that has watched Buxton dominate in flashes and disappear in stretches, this is another September spent projecting what the roster looks like when he is right. The 25 homers in 93 games were not a mirage. The availability still was. Surgery closes 2026. Spring opens the next bet.