Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners during an interview Friday management doesn’t have a targeted number of games for Byron Buxton to play center field, or number of at bats as the club’s center fielder.
“We do not. There is no number. Taking it one day at a time. One series at a time. One month at a time.”
St. Peter was asked how Buxton is physically with spring training ending Tuesday and the regular season starting Thursday in Kansas City against the Royals? “Great. He is doing great. Fantastic.”
Since 2017 when Buxton had a career high 140 games, the gifted 30-year-old has played in as few games as 28 and no more than 92. In 2023 injuries were problematic again and his role was only as a designated hitter.
Now the plan is a return to center field where Buxton’s skills and presence give the defense, per St. Peter, “a competitive advantage.”
Team fielding, including prowess up the middle, is one of multiple reasons the club president believes his team can improve on last year’s breakthrough season when the club won the American League Central Division championship and was victorious in a playoff series for the first time in 21 years. “
We feel really good about our club defensively,” St. Peter said.
Buxton and shortstop Carlos Correa are former Gold Glove winners. First baseman Carlos Santana was a Gold Glove finalist with the Pirates last season, while third baseman Royce Lewis is uber athletic and a former shortstop. Regarding the catching roster of Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez, St. Peter said “that’s as good a catching combo as there is in the American League.”

In evaluating the outfield corner defense, St. Peter said Max Kepler is “elite in right field by every measure” and left fielder Matt Wallner is above average.
It’s second base where Twins fans may be most concerned about the defense. Edouard Julien, 24 and a terrific hitting prospect as he showed last season in his rookie debut, can struggle in the field but St. Peter is upbeat about him. “Eddie Julien was vastly improved by the end of last year at second base and I think that’s a big deal.”
The Twins scored the 10th most runs in MLB last season and only two other clubs hit more home runs than Minnesota’s 233. That was accomplished with Buxton and Correa, potentially two of the most productive hitters on the roster, having subpar seasons.
Asked about team hitting, St. Peter said, “We think it’s exciting. We expect to score more runs (in 2024).”
Production, St. Peter predicted, will depend on having a healthy group starting with players who struggled with injuries in the recent past: Buxton, Correa, Lewis, Kepler and first baseman Alex Kirilloff.
Buxton, at .207 and Correa with a .230 average, were hampered with injuries last season. They’re capable of doing much better in 2024 including exceeding the combined 35 home runs and 107 RBI the two produced.
Lewis has the kind of offensive talent that can carry a team. The 24-year-old showed clutch hitting with four grand slam home runs during 2023 in only 236 at bats as injuries limited his availability.
Kepler, slowed by injuries in the spring, had an eye-catching second half of the season hitting .306 after the All-Star Game break, with 12 home runs and 36 RBI. “…I am expecting big things from Max in 2024,” St. Peter said.
St. Peter refers to Kirilloff “as an elite hitter.” The 26-year-old has been on the verge for a couple of seasons in making heroic headlines but injuries have slowed his progress. “We still believe in Alex,” St. Peter said. “We think he can be a critical guy for us. ..”
Julien, 24, hit 16 home runs last season in 338 at bats. While hitting .263, he showed the ability to hit the baseball to all fields.
Jeffers could also help make St. Peter’s expectation of scoring more runs come true. He leads the team in home runs this spring with four. “Ryan Jeffers has a lot of power,” St. Peter said. “We’ve seen that in Minnesota. Last year he had a great offensive year, one of the better offensive years any catcher had in our game. He hits the ball hard. ….”
St. Peter’s optimism about 2024 extends to the pitching staff. “Since (baseball boss) Derek Falvey has been here (Nov. 2016 hired) our pitching has improved each and every year. I expect our pitching this year again to be one of the strengths of our team.”
St. Peter described it as “challenging losing Sonny Gray.” He was a superb veteran starter, a stabilizer for the Twins but he signed as a free agent with the Cardinals during the offseason.
“He gave us a chance every night, but I am really confident that our group (of starters)—led by Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan, Chris Paddack, Louie Varland—I think that group is plenty good in terms of it’s going to give us a chance to win a lot of games,” St. Peter said.
“I am also really excited about our bullpen. I think our bullpen is as deep as it’s been since Derek has been leading our baseball operation. Even with the loss of Jhoan Duran (oblique strain) to start the season, you know what we’ve seen out of Griffin Jax, what we’ve seen out of Brock Stewart, Jorge Alcala. We like our bullpen a lot. We think it will be again a strength of our club.”
St. Peter believes the players are “very determined to take another step toward a championship,” implying the club is targeting an American League Pennant. Minnesota’s record last season was 87-75. How many wins for the Twins in 2024?
“… I don’t forecast victories (number of wins),” St. Peter answered.
“I certainly expect our team to be better.”
At season’s end success will be directly tied to the health of the players. Adversity will come but in the club’s favor is its depth.
“Willi Castro was a critical player a year ago that can play all over the diamond, as can Kyle Farmer,” St. Peter said. “You add the addition of Carlos Santana (infield, outfield, catcher). He gives us additional depth there as well. …The depth we have with Jeffers and Vazquez. In our mind two starting catchers kind of sharing time there. So we like our depth a lot. We think…it will be one of the strengths of our club.”
By now, almost on the eve of the season opener, you have caught on that the longtime Twins president (named in 2022) is optimistic about 2024. Whether it’s individual players like Buxton, or the collective forecast, he can see success ahead.