Buxton just misses first All-Star honor

CHICAGO -- Byron Buxton returned from a lengthy stint on the injured list on June 19 and saw that he was still among the league's leaders in All-Star voting despite his prolonged absence. He was honored -- but with a caveat.

"You want to see your name in there where it’s earned," Buxton said at the time.

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Buxton has since returned to the IL through no fault of his own, having sustained a broken left hand when he was hit by a pitch in his third game since returning from a hip strain. All told, he's only got roughly a month's worth of games on his résumé this season -- but what a month it was.

It was still nearly enough for Buxton to earn a place in the All-Star Game.

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But in the end, Buxton fell barely short of being named one of three starters in the American League's outfield for the upcoming Midsummer Classic in Denver, as he held third place in voting until he was passed by Teoscar Hernández of the Blue Jays between the final voting update on Thursday morning and the 1 p.m. CT deadline, narrowly edging Buxton out of the first All-Star honor of his career.

Hernández earned a starting spot by a margin of fewer than 5,000 votes out of the 16.5 million cast in Phase 2 of the voting process.

This means the Twins will still need at least one representative on the All-Star team -- and it likely won't be Buxton, who has played three games since May 6 due to injury. José Berríos (3.52 ERA in 16 starts), Denver area native Taylor Rogers (2.53 ERA, 42 strikeouts, 5 walks) and Nelson Cruz (18 homers, .966 OPS) could be candidates when All-Star reserves and pitchers are announced on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Despite having appeared in only 27 games this season, Buxton finished third among AL outfielders in Phase 1 of fan voting, and he held steady in third place until the very end of Phase 2, in evident recognition of the sheer magnitude of his April that finally appeared to fulfill all of the lofty expectations set out for him through the years and earned him AL Player of the Month honors.

Even as Buxton's stats have remained frozen in time since early May, the numbers are still striking: a .369/.409/.767 line through 110 plate appearances, with 10 homers, 11 doubles and five stolen bases -- to go with his customary elite defense. At the time of his injury, he led the Twins in most major offensive categories.

Buxton wouldn't have been able to play in the All-Star Game anyway due to his injury, but he was still looking to become the second consecutive Twin to start an All-Star Game by joining Jorge Polanco, who started at shortstop for the AL in 2019. Torii Hunter (2002), Joe Mauer (2008, '09, '10, '13) and Justin Morneau (2010) were the only other Twins to be named All-Star starters since 2000.

Buxton showed signs that this explosion might be possible in 2019, when he arrived in Spring Training having simplified his swing and approach, with more extra-base power in his bat. He continued that in limited action last year before, at last, he put together his considerable raw tools in a dazzling showcase to begin the '21 season.

Having played roughly one-third of Minnesota's games this season, Buxton still leads his team in wins above replacement by a wide margin, according to Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. In fact, even after all this missed time, Baseball Reference still has Buxton ninth among AL position players in WAR -- sandwiched between Toronto's Bo Bichette and Cleveland's José Ramírez.

Buxton's April was just that good -- and that's why he was still in this position Thursday, just shy of the All-Star team.

His manager has zero doubt that he would have deserved it.

"In all of my years in the game, probably the most spectacular run of baseball that I’ve seen from one guy, and that’s why we’re even talking about this," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "I mean, the run of games that he’s had is almost not believable, because this isn’t a video game. These aren’t high school stats.

"He’s playing against the best guys in the world and just dominating and taking over games when he’s been out there. To say he’s been an All-Star in the games that he’s played would be a vast understatement."