Twins outfielder Byron Buxton suffered an injury to his left foot during a Monday intrasquad game while attempting to track down a fly ball off the bat of Nelson Cruz. Buxton had to be carted off the field following the incident.
On Tuesday, the Twins announced Buxton is day-to-day with a left mid-foot sprain. They did not provide a timetable for his return or say whether he will be ready for Opening Day, but clearly, this is good news given the scene Monday night. Buxton appears to have escaped major injury.
Here's a look at the aftermath of the injury:
Byron Buxton was going back to catch a Nelson Cruz fly ball in deep center field and appeared to get his cleat stuck in the grass. He went down grabbing his leg/ankle. After several minutes, he was carted off the field. pic.twitter.com/KZjk6MZ8Jk
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) July 13, 2020
Buxton, 26, has the potential to be elite when healthy -- he's got power at the plate, top-of-the-scale defense in center, and tremendous speed on the bases. However, injuries have been an issue throughout his MLB career. Across five seasons in the majors, Buxton has been on the IL seven times, and just once, in 2017, has he played in 140 games in a season (he put up a WAR of 5.0 that year). Buxton would've been questionable for the regularly scheduled Opening Day after he underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder, but the delayed start to the season afforded him time to recover. Now, though, he's hurt again.
In the event that Buxton is sidelined for a significant amount of time, the Twins can slide Max Kepler over to center and put Marwin Gonzalez at a corner spot. Jake Cave is also in the outfield mix and could be the recipient of more playing time in the even that Buxton is out for a while.
The Twins have strong designs on the World Series in 2020, and Buxton is vital to the Twins' hopes. Getting him and his elite defense (and offensive potential) back on to the field as soon as possible is imperative.
