Inside The Twins

Watch: Twins' Byron Buxton hits 450-foot bomb, then makes diving catch

Buxton's first homer of 2025 was a moonshot on a rainy afternoon in Chicago.
Will Ragatz|
Apr 29, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (25) celebrates after scoring against the Chicago White Sox during the ninth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Apr 29, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (25) celebrates after scoring against the Chicago White Sox during the ninth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Byron Buxton's first home run of the season is a sight to behold.

After starting the year 2 for 17 with no extra-base hits in the Twins' first five games, Buxton absolutely demolished a baseball in the first inning of Wednesday's rain-delayed series finale against the White Sox. Chicago starter Sean Burke left a 3-1 slider over the middle of the plate and Buxton got all of it. The ball left his bat at 111.7 miles per hour and traveled an estimated 446 feet, according to Statcast, landing around halfway up the empty bleachers in left-center field.

It's Buxton's 22nd career home run against the White Sox, which is the most he's hit against any one opponent. Coming into the game, he was hitting .287 with a .945 OPS against Chicago, and those numbers have now gone up slightly.

Then, in the bottom half of the inning, he showed off the other skill that makes him a special player when he's healthy. A leadoff fly ball from Nick Maton got caught in the wind and tailed on Buxton, who ran it down and laid out for an impressive diving catch to secure the first out. That's why he won the Platinum Glove award in the American League back in 2017.

Perhaps this will be the game where Buxton starts to get hot at the plate. He's gotten off to a slow start to the 2025 campaign, but it's a small sample size, and he's coming off a spring where he hit .317 with a 1.005 OPS and three home runs, including two long ones late in camp. Buxton, 31, had a healthy offseason and comes into this year with high hopes after generating 3.6 WAR in 102 games last season.

This game at Guaranteed Rate Field was delayed over three hours due to rain. The Twins (1-4) led the White Sox (2-3) by a run after one inning, with Opening Day starter Pablo Lopez on the mound for the second time this year.

For those wondering why Kris Atteberry is on the Twins.TV call, the rain delay conflicted with Cory Provus attending a celebration of life for the late great Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker.

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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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