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Inside The Twins

Byron Buxton Named AL Player of the Week, Kyler Fedko Starting in Debut

Buxton is well on his way to another career year and a second consecutive All-Star nod.
Will Ragatz|
Jun 10, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) hits a three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers in the fifth inning at Comerica Park.
Jun 10, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) hits a three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers in the fifth inning at Comerica Park. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Twins

Byron Buxton had the best season of his career in 2025. He's on pace to top it in 2026. Buxton is well on his way to a second consecutive All-Star appearance and was just recognized for his recent heater by being named the American League Player of the Week for June 8-14.

In six games against the Tigers and Cardinals last week, Buxton went 11 for 24 (.458) with four home runs, three doubles, six runs scored, seven RBI, and a stolen base. His OPS was 1.583. Buxton was 8 for 12 with five extra-base hits in the weekend series against St. Louis alone.

It's the second time this season Buxton has won AL POTW. He also did so after hitting five home runs from April 26-May 2. Before this season, Buxton had only won it twice in his career (once in 2017 and once in 2022).

Heading into Monday's game in Texas, Buxton has played in 61 of the Twins' 73 contests and has slashed .276/.336/.600 with 22 home runs and a 153 OPS+. He's just two homers behind Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead. After playing in 126 games last season and hitting a career-high 35 home runs, Buxton is currently on pace to play in 135 games and hit 48 big flies.

Buxton is fourth in All-Star votes among AL outfielders, trailing only Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, and Cody Bellinger. He's essentially a lock to make his third All-Star team if he remains healthy, and he has a real chance to be voted in as a starter for the first time in his career. You can vote for him here.

Fedko starting in debut

The 33-40 Twins begin a big road series on Monday night against the 35-36 Texas Rangers, who are three games ahead of them in the AL wild card race. The big thing to watch for Minnesota in this contest is the MLB debut of outfielder Kyler Fedko, who was just called up. Fedko is hitting sixth and playing left field against Rangers lefty MacKenzie Gore.

Also of note in the Twins' Monday lineup is that Royce Lewis will be back at third base for the first time since returning from Triple-A St. Paul. Lewis has been playing first and second base recently, but he'll slide back to third with Brooks Lee getting a night off.

Mike Paredes will be making his fourth MLB appearance and second start on the mound for the Twins, who will turn it over to the bullpen after hopefully getting 3-5 solid innings from Paredes.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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