MINNEAPOLIS -- Byron Buxton is now working into baseball activity on the field, with the hope that he’ll get his legs healthy in time to rejoin the Twins for their stretch run and possible postseason push.

Is there a chance that could finally involve the outfield?

There aren’t any guarantees at this point, and much will depend on Buxton’s continued physical buildup, but manager Rocco Baldelli indicated before Saturday’s 7-4 loss to the Pirates at Target Field that the idea of Buxton stepping into the outfield has, at least, become “an actual conversation” at this point in the season, whereas it hadn’t been a thought for much of this year.

“His legs are probably going to be in the best possible position for him to be able to play in the outfield after this period of time,” Baldelli said. “If it's going to happen this season, it's going to be after recovering and building himself up. And it's going to be now. This is going to be his best opportunity.”

The Twins began this season with Buxton as their everyday designated hitter with the hopes of keeping him healthy and monitoring him to see if the problematic right knee that limited him last season and required season-ending surgery in ‘22 would improve to the point of eventually progressing him to the outfield.

It never really did, and Baldelli remained adamant all season that if the Twins could physically play Buxton in the outfield, they would be doing so.

Though Buxton was able to DH for most of the club’s games and even steal some bases and aggressively run the bases, the knee remained a hindrance. And though Buxton indicated that this recent IL stint for a right hamstring strain that began on Aug. 4 has helped the knee “calm down,” it still appears uncertain that another layoff will fully address the knee issues to the point where he can get back into the outfield this season.

But now, with the season nearing its end, they’re willing to try and see.

“Right now, it’s getting him in the best physical shape that we can possibly get him in, and then we have to build him up from there,” Baldelli said. “The outfield part, that hasn’t really started yet. We still have work to do, but I think he’s up for that task and that challenge. He’s going to give it everything he has. I know that.”

Even in the best case, it almost certainly wouldn’t be consistent center field time for Buxton, the 2017 Platinum Glove Award winner -- but these are still all hypotheticals. Flexibility to move him to center for even a day or two a week would help the Twins’ lineup construction, with too many hitters to squeeze into the lineup already on a daily basis even with Willi Castro, Buxton and Alex Kirilloff still on the IL.

Baldelli openly notes that the Twins’ best possible lineup involves Buxton playing outfield -- both on offense and defense.

Case in point: If Buxton is able to play center field, that creates a cascading effect that creates a much more optimal defensive alignment for the Twins -- one that likely puts Edouard Julien at designated hitter to put Jorge Polanco at his natural second-base position and Royce Lewis at third.

Polanco playing out of position at third cost the Twins on Saturday, when he made a tough throwing error on a single as Sonny Gray lost a perfect game in the sixth inning -- a three-run frame that also saw the Twins lose their lead.

But the priority of both the team and Buxton himself remains in getting him healthy enough to play in late September and October -- and Buxton said the priority is just getting healthy enough to play, outfield or not.

“I mean, it isn’t something that’s in my head,” Buxton said. “My biggest thing right now is just getting back on the field, however that’s possible. But yeah, it’d be fun to definitely get back out there and see what happens.”

It has been tough for Buxton to adjust to the DH role, as he has admitted several times this year. He has struggled to a .207/.294/.438 line with a .731 OPS and 17 homers with several extended slumps, and his mental adjustment to not being able to play defense to take his mind off a tough at-bat is still ongoing.

And, again, it’s still unclear if this progression will ultimately lead back to the outfield at all. If it does, Buxton and the Twins have to make sure not to risk a more significant injury that would fully end his season before a possible playoff run -- with Minnesota holding a five-game lead over the Guardians at the top of the AL Central.

It is -- and will remain -- an evolving situation. And perhaps, if the Twins make the playoffs, the paradigm could shift again.

“Obviously, like I said, that goes a lot in part with how the body feels, how the knee feels, how everything all together feels,” Buxton said. “So for me, it’s putting us in the best situation so when we do get to that spot, get to the playoffs, to make sure that I’m in the lineup.”