ATLANTA — Pretty much every kid who swung a bat in the state of Georgia in the 1990s idolized Chipper Jones. The switch-hitting, smooth-fielding, do-it-all MVP of the dynasty-era Atlanta Braves inspired a generation of young ballplayers. Most went on to careers in finance, real estate, car sales or whatever it is that former Little League legends do.
But one young Chipper fan rode his Braves fandom all the way to the major leagues … and right back here to Atlanta. Byron Buxton — a 2025 All-Star for the Minnesota Twins and contestant in Monday’s Home Run Derby — grew up in Baxley, located a couple hundred miles south of Atlanta, idolizing Jones, Rafael Furcal and other ’90s Braves.
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“I played the infield a little bit more … I always thought I was going to grow up and switch-hit just like they did,” Buxton told Yahoo Sports on Monday at All-Star Media Day, then laughed. “I kind of realized once I got to high school I wasn’t going to be neither one of those.”
Instead, Buxton moved to the outfield and swung entirely from the right side of the plate, and things have worked out pretty well since then. One of the most highly prized prospects of his era coming out of high school, Buxton was drafted second overall by Minnesota in 2012. Since then, he has electrified baseball with his rare combination of speed, power and athleticism … when he’s on the field.
The knock on Buxton — and it’s a rough one, since it’s largely out of his control — is that he simply can’t stay in the lineup. Through his first 10 MLB seasons prior to 2025, he reached the 100-games-played mark in only two of them.
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When he’s in the game, Buxton consistently plays at an All-Star level, but he has had trouble staying in the game. He has lost time due to a concussion, an injured wrist, an injured toe, migraines, a sprained thumb, two knee surgeries … it’s almost easier to list the body parts he hasn’t hurt.
“I haven’t been healthy over the last couple of years,” he conceded. “My biggest goal was to be able to go to the ballpark and tell the manager that I want to play center field every day, and the only way to do that was for me to be healthy.”
Byron Buxton is healthy and soaking in the moment as he prepares to participate in the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game in his home state. (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports)
(Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports)
This year, thankfully, everything is clicking. Buxton stole his 100th career base in May against the Guardians, making him only the third player in Twins franchise history — after Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter — with both 100 steals and 100 homers. He blasted a 479-foot homer in June against the Rangers, the second-longest of the season. And on Saturday, he hit for the cycle against Pittsburgh — on Byron Buxton Bobblehead Day, no less.
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Naturally, this being Buxton, not everything has gone smoothly. He took a pitch to his hand in the first inning Wednesday, which forced manager Rocco Baldelli to remove him from the game and put his participation in this week’s All-Star festivities in momentary doubt. But X-rays were negative, and Buxton arrived in Atlanta healthy and ready to embrace the moment.
“Just to be able to grind the last couple of years, and to get back to being myself this year, and to have the All-Star Game here in the home state,” he said, “it’s a big, special moment, not just for me but for my family as well.”
He has family in town from Baxley, and his kids will be here, too, bringing him towels and Gatorade in Monday night’s Derby. From there, it’s just about swinging away and letting the ball go where it will.
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“You’re not too much worried about technique,” he said with a smile. “You’re just trying to get in the groove and hit them up. Don’t go out there and overthink it.”
It’s a good philosophy. After all the work he has put in to get to this point, Buxton has earned the right — and the freedom — to simply swing for the fences.
This news was originally published on this post .
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