Few Players Have Had Byron Buxton’s Talent, and Awards Show That – Twins

Byron Buxton has been one of the most talented players in baseball over the past decade, full stop. He has the hardware to prove it.

On Thursday night, the Twins announced that Buxton received one of the league’s three Silver Slugger Awards given to American League outfielders, alongside MVP hopeful Aaron Judge and rising star Riley Greene.

Buxton ranked fifth in home runs (35), sixth in batting average (.264), second in slugging (.551), third in runs (97), seventh in stolen bases (24 of 24), and most importantly, second in OPS (136 OPS+) among AL outfielders, trailing only Judge. It wasn’t a sure thing, but it was certainly deserved.

Eight seasons ago, the two-time All-Star also brought home hardware, but instead of with his bat, it was with his glove. Buxton was awarded the Gold Glove in 2017, his first full year as a pro, as well as the even more exclusive Platinum Glove, awarded by Rawlings to the single top defender in each league regardless of position. Buxton’s 2017 defense registered 27 outs above average per Statcast, the most value accrued by an outfielder since its inception in 2016 and the third most at any position.

Think about that for a moment. Buxton once had the ability to be the best defender in baseball, and now he’s among the league’s best hitters (his .878 OPS was the fourth-highest in the American League and ninth-highest in MLB). And he’s still playing an admirable center field, one of the toughest positions to cover in baseball.

In total, 21 other players have won both a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove in seasons primarily playing center field. This includes those who, like Buxton, did not win both awards in the same season. Admittedly, most of them did; 12 of the 21 won their first center field Silver Slugger and Gold Glove in the same year. Buxton is tied for the longest drought between the two awards with Torii Hunter, who won his first Gold Glove in 2001 but had to wait until 2009 for that elusive Silver Slugger.

Here’s the full list of players to win both awards as center fielders, in alphabetical order: Carlos Beltrán, Ellis Burks, Eric Davis, Andre Dawson, Jim Edmonds, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, Torii Hunter, Adam Jones, Andruw Jones, Matt Kemp, Andrew McCutchen, Willie McGee, Dale Murphy, Kirby Puckett, Grady Sizemore, Ichiro Suzuki, Andy Van Slyke, Vernon Wells, Bernie Williams.

It’s a good mix of Hall of Famers and “that dude was cold.” Some takeaways from that group are below.

Griffey leads the group in total awards with 17, tying Andruw Jones for the most with 10 Gold Gloves and leading the group in Silver Sluggers. Second in Silver Sluggers was Puckett with five. Other players who, like Buxton and Hunter, had to wait to obtain both were Edmonds and Andruw Jones (both seven years) and Williams (five).

Buxton joins Burks, Ellsbury, Gwynn, and Suzuki as the only players with exactly one of each, though the other four won both of theirs in the same season. Also, Gwynn and Suzuki were not primarily center fielders, but both had one season in the middle of their primes during which they played primarily center field (Gwynn just 86 games, but we’ll count it), and both took home both awards. Fun!

There are a few extra players who have won both awards, but one was at a different position, such as Robin Yount winning a Silver Slugger in center field but a Gold Glove at shortstop, or Cody Bellinger winning a Gold Glove as a right fielder and a Silver Slugger as a center fielder.

It should be noted that Silver Sluggers are awarded to outfielders generally, which puts center fielders at a disadvantage, given that the position is typically filled by players known more for their gloves. Winning the award means they outhit not just other center fielders but also the more offense-focused corner outfielders.

Another aspect to keep in mind is that from 1961 to 2010, Gold Gloves were similarly given generally to outfielders, which often resulted in only center fielders receiving the award. There were seasons in which, if you were a starting center fielder, you had a 25% chance of winning a Gold Glove. Of the list given, only four received their award after center field was singled out in the voting (Ellsbury, Adam Jones, Kemp, McCutchen).

But this accomplishment has a bit of a cloud over it. As noted, Buxton is tied with Hunter for the longest gap between first Gold Glove and first Silver Slugger. Hunter, though, won eight Gold Gloves in those eight years. Jones racked up seven during his seven-year wait, and Edmonds had six during his seven-year wait.

Buxton still doesn’t have another Gold Glove.

He won his Gold and Platinum Gloves in his first full season in the big leagues, but that was also his final full season in the big leagues until 2025—eight years later. It’s hard not to play the what-if game. Obviously, he wasn’t hitting enough at 23 to compete for a Silver Slugger, but his 136 OPS+ this season is quite close to the 131 OPS+ that he’s carried for the past seven seasons, since the start of 2019. That’s good enough to compete for a trophy, and his defense was elite for much of that stretch.

But we know why that gap exists. Buxton averaged just 89 games between 2019 and 2024, even prorating 2020’s truncated season. And although he put up flashy rate stats, you can’t win a Silver Slugger with 19 homers and 32 RBI, even if a 1.005 OPS and 4.9 bWAR accompany it in 61 first-half games (can we please take a moment to marvel at Buxton’s 2021?). Apparently, it wasn’t even worth an All-Star nod.

It’s hard not to dream about what that gap could have contained had Buxton stayed healthy. At age 23, he was the best defender in baseball. At age 31, he was one of the handful of best hitters in baseball. And we saw flashes of both between them, but not enough to take home any hardware.

From another point of view, though, it’s actually remarkable—in a positive way—that he’s been able to put together a rebound like this. Just two seasons ago, this player didn’t play a single inning in center field due to health reasons. From 2018 to 2023, 92 games was his high-water mark. He had hand, knee, hip, and brain injuries that kept him from the field for months at a time. And after all that, as a 31-year-old, he was still one of the top offensive assets in the game while playing an admirable center field at an age when even great center fielders get moved to a corner position. Heck, many fans just two years ago pleaded for him to retire for health reasons.

Buxton is a marvel. If you can’t see that, I don’t know what to tell you.

Congratulations, Buck.