Byron Buxton activated by Twins after monthlong absence

The Minnesota Twins have been without all three of their highest-paid players for the past couple of weeks but will get one of them back this weekend.

Thursday, the Twins officially activated center fielder Byron Buxton and optioned Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul.

Buxton, 30, hasn’t played for the Twins since Aug. 12 due to right hip inflammation. He had been on a rehab assignment at the start of this month but then had a setback.

In the 90 games he has played, he’s slashed .275/.334/.528 — all bests for him since 2021, when he was limited to 61 games — while contributing 16 homers, 49 RBI, 54 runs and his lowest strikeout rate in three years while playing great defense. With three more games played, it’d be his second-most ever played in a season, behind only his 140 in 2017.

His .862 OPS is third-best on the team among regulars this season, behind only Carlos Correa and Matt Wallner, and since he last played this season, Kyle Farmer and Trevor Larnach are the only Twins regulars to have posted an OPS at least that high. Buxton’s OPS for the month prior to his injury was well above 1.000.

Martin, meanwhile, has been solid while playing left and center fields, in addition to second base, this season, although he’s struggled at times offensively.

The 25-year-old has slashed .252/.321/.349 this season with one homer, 16 RBI, 16 doubles and seven stolen bases in 10 tries across 218 at-bats. However, since he’s primarily been an outfielder in recent weeks thanks to improving health among the infielders, the Twins are opting to keep DaShawn Keirsey, who has struggled offensively since he was called up and made his MLB debut last week, but offers better speed and really strong defense.

With 16 games left, the sprint is on for the Twins, who entered Thursday just three games up on Detroit for the third and final American League wild card spot and four ahead of both Boston and Seattle. They’re also just 1.5 games behind Kansas City for the second wild card spot.

The Twins open a three-game series at home against Cincinnati on Friday night.

Buxton will be the first to return but the Twins will also hope to get Correa and Max Kepler, their two other highest-paid players, back very soon, too, although no timeline has been announced for either, yet.