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The Twins will be without their best player for the upcoming week, and the American League will be missing one of the outfielders voted in to start in next week’s All-Star Game after Byron Buxton was placed on the injured list Tuesday.
Buxton re-aggravated a right hip issue that has sidelined him multiple times this season on Sunday, leaving the game early after attempting to steal second base.
The Twins decided to shut him down through the all-star break to let his hip heal. He will not have a chance to play in next week’s Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia after being voted in by the fans for the first time.
Twins manager Derek Shelton had a conversation with Buxton before they made the move and, ultimately, they came to the same conclusion.
“I think the thing that I admire the most about Byron Buxton is his No. 1 thought is this team and where we’re at and how he’s going to be able to impact it,” Shelton said. “As we started to talk through it more, it just because more obvious that it was the best decision for us and for him.”
Buxton missed five games because of his hip in mid-May. After his return, he spent a period of time at designated hitter as he dealt with that, along with a shoulder issue. The Twins sent him for imaging ahead of last week’s series in Houston, and he missed four games on the road trip before returning Saturday.
Buxton, who is hitting .271/.328/.575 with a .904 OPS, has been among the best hitters in the American League this season and had played in 75 of the Twins’ first 91 games, avoiding the injured list until now.
“I think we’re just feeling like, as Shelty and (head athletic trainer) Nick (Paparesta) worked through it with Byron, just thinking about the idea of kind of getting caught in this repeated cycle. And the best thing at this point is probably just to give it clear down time to let it fully resolve itself so he’s not in this in-between state and can feel fully confident hopefully for a full second half post-all-star,” general manager Jeremy Zoll said.
While Buxton is going on the injured list, the Twins have a number of key contributors who are nearing their own returns.
One, Bailey Ober, threw a bullpen on Tuesday at Target Field after already pitching in two minor league rehab games. He has been on the injured list since May 31 with elbow inflammation.
After seeing how he feels after his bullpen, the Twins will make an assessment on his return — it could come later this homestand — with Shelton saying “everything is trending towards him being close to rejoining us.”
Catcher Ryan Jeffers (hamate) is continuing his rehab assignment with the Triple-A Saints in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday. Shelton said he would guess Jeffers would be there for “at least the next three or four days,” after which they’ll make a call on him.
“We just have to build him back up,” Shelton said. “Part of the build up is making sure his legs are in shape, along with the percussion of his hand, and we can’t replicate that without game reps. But everything so far has been encouraging.”
Reliever Cole Sands, out since early May with a forearm strain, has also joined the Saints in Iowa. He was scheduled to throw one inning on Tuesday night. Sands previously went on a rehab assignment a little over a month ago, which was eventually shut down as he felt symptoms again.
While the Saints will have a pair of major league rehabbers in action, they won’t have top prospect Kaelen Culpepper playing with them. Culpepper landed on the injured list for the second time with a renewal of symptoms in his glute, Zoll said.
Culpepper, who seemed to be closing in on a major league call-up last month, had landed on the IL from June 16-28 with the same injury.
Alan Roden was called up to fill Buxton’s spot on the roster. Roden, who missed time earlier this season with a shoulder injury, was hitting .272 with a .909 OPS in 33 games. … The Twins added reliever Woo-Suk Go to the roster Tuesday. Cody Laweryson was optioned to Triple-A.
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Buxton re-aggravated a right hip issue that has sidelined him multiple times this season on Sunday, leaving the game early after attempting to steal second base.
The Twins decided to shut him down through the all-star break to let his hip heal. He will not have a chance to play in next week’s Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia after being voted in by the fans for the first time.
Twins manager Derek Shelton had a conversation with Buxton before they made the move and, ultimately, they came to the same conclusion.
“I think the thing that I admire the most about Byron Buxton is his No. 1 thought is this team and where we’re at and how he’s going to be able to impact it,” Shelton said. “As we started to talk through it more, it just because more obvious that it was the best decision for us and for him.”
Buxton missed five games because of his hip in mid-May. After his return, he spent a period of time at designated hitter as he dealt with that, along with a shoulder issue. The Twins sent him for imaging ahead of last week’s series in Houston, and he missed four games on the road trip before returning Saturday.
Buxton, who is hitting .271/.328/.575 with a .904 OPS, has been among the best hitters in the American League this season and had played in 75 of the Twins’ first 91 games, avoiding the injured list until now.
“I think we’re just feeling like, as Shelty and (head athletic trainer) Nick (Paparesta) worked through it with Byron, just thinking about the idea of kind of getting caught in this repeated cycle. And the best thing at this point is probably just to give it clear down time to let it fully resolve itself so he’s not in this in-between state and can feel fully confident hopefully for a full second half post-all-star,” general manager Jeremy Zoll said.
Injury updates
While Buxton is going on the injured list, the Twins have a number of key contributors who are nearing their own returns.
One, Bailey Ober, threw a bullpen on Tuesday at Target Field after already pitching in two minor league rehab games. He has been on the injured list since May 31 with elbow inflammation.
After seeing how he feels after his bullpen, the Twins will make an assessment on his return — it could come later this homestand — with Shelton saying “everything is trending towards him being close to rejoining us.”
Catcher Ryan Jeffers (hamate) is continuing his rehab assignment with the Triple-A Saints in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday. Shelton said he would guess Jeffers would be there for “at least the next three or four days,” after which they’ll make a call on him.
“We just have to build him back up,” Shelton said. “Part of the build up is making sure his legs are in shape, along with the percussion of his hand, and we can’t replicate that without game reps. But everything so far has been encouraging.”
Reliever Cole Sands, out since early May with a forearm strain, has also joined the Saints in Iowa. He was scheduled to throw one inning on Tuesday night. Sands previously went on a rehab assignment a little over a month ago, which was eventually shut down as he felt symptoms again.
While the Saints will have a pair of major league rehabbers in action, they won’t have top prospect Kaelen Culpepper playing with them. Culpepper landed on the injured list for the second time with a renewal of symptoms in his glute, Zoll said.
Culpepper, who seemed to be closing in on a major league call-up last month, had landed on the IL from June 16-28 with the same injury.
Briefly
Alan Roden was called up to fill Buxton’s spot on the roster. Roden, who missed time earlier this season with a shoulder injury, was hitting .272 with a .909 OPS in 33 games. … The Twins added reliever Woo-Suk Go to the roster Tuesday. Cody Laweryson was optioned to Triple-A.
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