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FORT MYERS, FLA. – Byron Buxton reported to Twins camp last week. In his first on-field appearance of the spring, he walked to left field at the Lee County Sports Complex and, wearing a long brace on his right knee, ran medium-speed in 90-foot bursts, mimicking a baserunner's motions, in front of Nick Paparesta, the Twins' new head athletic trainer.
The moment was routine and innocuous. It also may have contained the key to the Twins' entire season.
Can Buxton stay healthy? Can he be ready to be an impact player starting on Opening Day? Can Paparesta keep Buxton and other Twins players healthier than they were last year, when injuries caused a late-summer collapse and ended Buxton's season in August after 92 games played?
Buxton has played more than 92 games in only one big-league season — in 2017, when he played in 140. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in September, and said he was working with a therapist within a few days.
He built a gym in his hometown of Baxley, Ga., a few years ago, and he worked out there this winter, but limited his running while recuperating.
Injuries are not his favorite subject. When he spoke with the media for the first time this spring, on Sunday morning in the Twins clubhouse, he addressed the state of his knee while keeping most of his answers vague.
Asked specifically about that first running session with Paparesta, Buxton said: "I'm trying new stuff. So a whole different setup. For me, I can't come in with the same approach. You stick with what you know felt good to you in the past, but it's an add-on for me to get to where I want to get to. You have to make a lot of changes here and there. That's what we're doing now and so far, so good."
He said he hasn't been working much with his running coach, Sheldon Pearce, while rehabbing, and he said there isn't a timetable for him to begin running full speed. "I don't want to mess nothing up," he said. "I'll probably get him down here when I start getting into my running progression."
His timetable? "Ain't no timetable," he said. "First day, regular season, that's the timetable."
One timetable intrigued him this winter: Carlos Correa's bizarre free-agent odyssey. Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey said that his impression was that Correa called Buxton right after agreeing to terms with the Twins this winter.
Buxton said he knew two days before the news was announced that Correa was returning to the team. Now the Twins have their two best players, and the two top picks in the 2012 draft, signed long-term — Buxton through 2028, and Correa through at least 2028, with options that could carry him through 2032.
Correa called the Twins' Buxton's team when he signed last year. Buxton told Correa he wanted him to lead, as well. The two have become friends for a reason.
"We joke about it all the time," Buxton said. "Not many times do you get the No. 1 and 2 picks in a draft to play on a team for this many years? The bond we made last year was incredible. To be able to do that for six more years, and, like he said, have our kids side by side in the stands makes it that much better.
"We don't do too much. We're lazy. We work out, go home and play with the kids. There's not really much more that we want to do, except talk amongst ourselves about how to make each other better. And that's something that we did all offseason."
Asked for his goals for 2023, Buxton said: "Last year wasn't successful, at the end of the day. We want to get a ring, get to the playoffs, and that didn't happen. I'm not really big on individual accolades. For me, I want a ring. I want to win a ring for Minnesota."
