You probably aren't alone if you've tuned the Minnesota Twins out this season. The reality is that they've played bad baseball, underwent a significant selloff , and now own a 62-75 record .
If you have tuned them out though, you've missed a different brand of baseball. Rocco Baldelli has been imploring his team to be more aggressive , and that has made for some interesting decisions on the basepaths.
It's not just translating to more stolen bases, but players are looking to take the extra 90 feet. Byron Buxton pulled off a career first, and he's got a new milestone in his sights.
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There was a time that Byron Buxton was a light-hitting speedster simply looking to make contact. He's not that player anymore and his .272/.333/.551 slash line . Over the weekend he made history by stealing third base for the first time in his career, and he's not done running.
"He's not even close to done right now. He looks terrific. His legs, he's flying around the bases. He's doing everything he'd like to do. Every day he could do something different and wow you. Byron Buxton stole third base, which was awesome. He doesn't come into my office too often, but he walked right in there after the game for some high fives. He was pretty fired up. … I'm glad he did it, just seeing the smile on his face after the game."
"I just needed to be healthy. I knew I had this."
Health has always been the key, and talking to The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman , Buxton now knows he has it. The All-Star centerfielder has swiped 21 bases this season. He is perfect in those attempts and has been thrown out just 12 times in 126 career attempts.
Nine stolen bases stand between him and something no Twins player has ever done before. He'll have to hit one more longball, but becoming the first 30/30 club member for Minnesota would be special. Buxton can become the 48th member in Major League Baseball history to achieve that mark. He'd follow Shohei Ohtani , Jose Ramirez , and Bobby Witt Jr. who all did it last season.
Byron Buxton steals third base for the first time in his career and it gives him a 20/20 season pic.twitter.com/sATmaKUpRF
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) August 30, 2025
The additional home run seems like a certainty. Nine more stolen bases would require a pace Buxton has not shown all year. Then again, he's been perfect and could kick down the pedal in the final month simply to get him over the top.
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Minnesota's superstar is healthy, has played 100 games for the first time in consecutive seasons, and is going to get MVP votes. How far he can push the individual performance amidst a dismal team season is really just up to him.
It's great that Buxton is flirting with Minnesota Twins history, but he's not out on an island performing on his own. Baldelli needs to see more from a group given unexpected opportunity. They have answered that call.
DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was recalled on Monday as the active rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players. Speed is part of his game and he told the Star Tribune's Phil Miller he is excited about the new running emphasis.
"They've kind of opened up the running game, running a lot more now," Keirsey said. "That's a big part of my game."
He's right on both counts — the Twins stole 23 bases in August, their highest one-month total in more than a decade. And Keirsey, a 28-year-old rookie outfielder, now ranks second among the current Twins with nine steals on the season.
Manager Rocco Baldelli's new emphasis on aggressiveness on the bases should help Keirsey steal even more, he figures.
"It kind of takes a lot of the focus off of you" when you reach base, Keirsey reasoned. "Before, it was like, 'OK there's one or two guys who might run, so we're not going to let them go.' But when you have guys who all can become a base-running threat, they're going to pay attention, but maybe it's more divided attention."
Whether mandated by the front office, baseball analytics department, or dictated by the personnel, red lights were more common than green for Minnesota. That isn't the case anymore and guys have been asked to move.
Matt Wallner has swiped a pair of recent bags to tie his career-high with three . Kody Clemens has two stolen bases with Minnesota, which doubles the amount he posted across 153 games with different teams. Even Royce Lewis , after all of the injuries, has been on the move again .
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The Minnesota Twins have finally accepted that they aren't an elite slugging team, and the more they can generate opportunities and steal runs, the better off they will be. With a month left of the regular season, we'll see how far this team can push the envelope.
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