ATLANTA — It’s not as painful as it was in September, but the sting still lingers for Byron Buxton. Not that it should come as a surprise after Buxton’s frustrating 2018 season ended a month earlier than anyone expected and led to questions about service-time manipulation.



But once he worked through all the emotions stirred up by the Twins’ controversial decision to not promote him last September, a move that delays his free agency by a full year by leaving him 13 days shy of the needed three years of service time, Buxton committed himself to preparing for the upcoming season unlike ever before.



As he sat down with The Athletic on Wednesday night to discuss a trying year and why he has chosen to focus on the present instead, Buxton is seemingly at ease. Friends say he’s in a good place mentally, and physically he’s noticeably more muscular — enough for his agent to crack a joke about him needing a new wardrobe.



Even...