MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins have been very, very consistent about one thing since they made the decision to use Byron Buxton as their full-time designated hitter instead of their center fielder: If he were healthy enough to play the outfield, he would be out there. He’s simply not healthy enough to be out there.

It’s June 20, and that remains the case -- and it doesn’t look like that will change at any point soon.

“Do I think there's a chance this year? Sure, there's a chance this year,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Do I know what's going to happen? I absolutely don't. Nothing has really gone up or down on that scale since the beginning of the year. It hasn't gotten closer. It hasn't gotten further away. It's basically in a similar spot.”

Even without his defense, he is a critical part of this lineup and this clubhouse as a hitter alone, with his .874 OPS and 70 homers from 2019-22. If this struggling offense is going to turn things around, it will need to happen through big swings from Buxton and Carlos Correa.

That has been tougher to see because the notoriously streaky Buxton had been mired in another strikeout-heavy slump since coming off the IL for his bruised ribs -- that is, until the Twins’ 10-4 loss to the Red Sox at Target Field on Tuesday, when he hit his first homer since May 23 as part of a 2-for-3 effort with a walk, snapping an 0-for-24 skid.

Otherwise, it was probably the bleakest loss of the season for the Twins, as Baldelli noted after the game.

“I’m hoping this is just the worst day that we’re going to see right now in this stretch of games, and it’s going to get better,” Baldelli said. “Hope isn’t a good plan in professional sports. But the truth is, the players we have, the collective at-bats we had before the eighth inning, I don’t think our group is capable of having those at-bats for too much longer.”

Buxton’s at-bats were solid early after the Twins made the decision to DH him full time, and they didn’t close the door on the option of Buxton playing in the field, because there was simply no way for them to know how the health situation would play out -- and when things might change. They’re still not closing the door on the option; it’s just that things still haven’t improved, so they’re not in a position to change the status quo.

“He's kind of treading water physically just DHing at this point,” Baldelli said. “Is it disappointing to people who love watching him play? Yes. But it doesn't change the facts of the situation.”

So, why isn’t Buxton on the injured list? It’s because his health isn’t all-or-nothing -- he and the Twins don’t have to choose between him being fully available in center field or not available at all. He is healthy enough to DH, so that’s what he’s doing.

He’s still navigating the life of being a full-time DH, where it’s been particularly mentally tough for him to adjust to not being able to impact the game on defense when he’s in such a slump.

“That definitely takes your mind off of what you do at the plate offensively,” Buxton said. “Just to the point of, if I was to strike out, I went on defense and I was like, ‘Ain't nobody getting a hit.’”

There’s no guarantee that another extended period of time off will change the situation with his right knee, either. All this is happening even after the procedure last September to alleviate the season-long issues in the knee, an offseason to recover and a careful Spring Training of load management.

For now, this is the Buxton the Twins have, the one who is noticeably lifted by being available to help his team every day, even if it’s not on both sides of the ball, as he would want. It’s far from ideal, but it’s not the Twins’ job to manage in the ideal scenario; it’s their job to manage what they have.

Could the situation still change? Maybe. But that’s not up to them.

“Instead of us dwelling on that every day and going, 'Oh, man, can he?' -- No, he can't,” Baldelli said. “And that's medically -- doctors, trainers watching him go out there and DH where he's just hitting and running the bases. You add it all together and it's not really a question, because it's something that's been beyond pondered.”