Twins center fielder Byron Buxton was removed from the field after injuring his left foot.

07/14/2020 USA


Center fielder Byron Buxton arrived at the Twins’ summer camp last week at Target Field in hopes of leaving his injury history behind and playing a major role in the team’s 60-game season that has been shortened by the pandemic of coronavirus.

Buxton had made seven trips to the disabled list in the past two years, and recently suffered a tear in his left shoulder last August. “I am one hundred percent,” he said. “(The extra rest) gave me that time to completely heal (the shoulder), do it the way I wanted and I have no limits. I went back to being myself and going out and playing the game the right way. ”

Unfortunately, the injury error seemed to strike Buxton again Monday night, 11 days before the Twins open the season against the White Sox in Chicago. Buxton suffered what the Twins described as an injury to his left foot when he fell while chasing a Nelson Cruz ball in the right center. He was removed from the field in a car after being examined and it is unclear how long he could be away.

“We took Byron inside for medical personnel to examine us,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after Monday’s intra-school game. Fortunately, relatively speaking, the first time it showed nothing, which I think we can take as a cautiously optimistic good sign. But we are going to go ahead and do many other evaluations and images tonight and tomorrow just to see what we can find and follow from there. That’s probably what you expect to see, but we also know that every time a guy leaves the field, we want to make sure he doesn’t leave the field, we’ll make sure we take a full look at him. by medical staff. “

Buxton tore the labrum in his shoulder on August 1 as he hit a wall in Miami and finally underwent surgery. Buxton also missed 13 games last June after being hit in the right wrist by a pitch and 10 more games after suffering a concussion in mid-July in Cleveland when he launched to catch him.

This year he was brought in slowly in spring training, but the pandemic strike gave him more time to heal. Buxton had spoken since spring about altering her focus to enter the garden walls and her plan to jump two feet instead of one to lessen the chance of violent collisions. But what happened Monday had nothing to do with the wall at Target Field.

“Buck does everything right,” said Baldelli. “Buck handles his preparation, he does everything well on the field. He plays the game exactly the way you would expect one of your young stars to play the game. That is who he is. Because of that, all of his teammates feed on him. He’s a favorite at that clubhouse because of the way he plays. Today he did nothing wrong, it was just a misstep in the garden and that’s really the only way I would describe it. There are boys, because of their athleticism and the way they play the game, they will be at greater risk for different things. But today was just a misstep. “

Buxton hit .262 with 30 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, 46 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 87 games last season. He won a Gold Glove in 2017 while playing in 140 games. That’s the only year he’s played in more than 92 games in five major league seasons.

If the injury forces Buxton to waste significant time, the Twins have several different options. They could employ the same strategy they used last year, moving Max Kepler from right field to center field and using a combination of Marwin González, Jake Cave and LaMonte Wade to replace Kepler on the right. Cave and Wade are also capable of playing in the center. None of those players, of course, is as good at defense as Buxton, who won a Platinum Glove in 2017.

Another option is outfielder Lane Adams, who the Twins signed to a minor league contract in the offseason and is part of the Minnesota player group in the Twin Cities. Adams, who has played 117 games total over three seasons in the major leagues, can play all three defensive positions. He has very good speed, sliding 245 bases in the minor leagues and 11 more (in 11 attempts) in the Major Leagues. However, Adams is likely not an everyday gamer. If the Twins added it, he would probably have a short-term role as a bench player.

In terms of prospects, the only outfielder on the 40-man list is Gilberto Celestino. Celestino is a natural center fielder and a good prospect, but he hasn’t seen time above High-A, which means he’s unlikely to break the big leagues this year.

The Twins could choose to add one from Brent Rooker, Alex Kirilloff or Trevor Larnach to the 40-man, who are all corner prospects in the outfield. Most consider Kirilloff to be the best in the group right now, but Rooker is the only one with Triple-A experience, so he would probably be first in line for a call. If Buxton were forced to waste time, the Twins could bet and put a prospect in the lineup as an everyday player, but the most likely scenario is to fix it alongside Cave, Wade, and possibly Adams, at least to start the season. Those players can’t replicate Buxton’s production, but they are solid depth pieces with major league experience.

“We are at our best with Buck. It is a very easy statement to make, ”said Baldelli. “But we also know that we are going to make a lot of guys step forward over the course of this shortened season. We will deal with adversity. This group is a different group than ours last year, but then again we know there are many faces coming back. No one walks away when difficult things have happened, whether they are minor or major.

“Each boy gets his own way and fills up until the other one returns. … I am very hopeful that Buck will come out of this with something quite minor, it is something that we can work with. We have to be prepared for almost anything at all times. That’s the mindset everyone must have to survive and prosper in this game. “

Jake Depue contributed to this story.

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