The Minnesota Twins will activate outfielder Byron Buxton from the 10-day injured list heading into Friday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds at Target Field. The Twins are in the midst of a chase for the playoffs this September with several teams tightly bunched for the wild card and AL Central.
Buxton has been sidelined since August 13 with right hip inflammation.
Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli announced the news after Wednesday’s 6-4 win against the Los Angeles Angels and said utility player Austin Martin will be optioned to Triple-A St. Paul to make room on the active roster. The Twins made that statement "official" Thursday morning.
Buxton had started a rehab assignment with St. Paul on September 2 and played two games before a recurrence of the injury. He participated in pregame hitting this week off minor league pitchers at Target Field along with shortstop Carlos Correa, who has been out since July 16 with plantar fasciitis.
The oft-injured Buxton, a former All-Star and Platinum Glove winner in center field, is on the injured list for the second time this season. He missed 23 games earlier this season with right knee inflammation and has missed 28 games with this most recent injury.
The 30-year-old has managed to play 90 games this season and two more games would equal the second-most he’s played in a season in his career behind the 140 games he played in 2017. Buxton is hitting .275 with 16 homers and 49 RBIs this season.
The Twins are clinging to a wild card spot, 3 games up on Detroit and 4 games up on Boston for the last spot. They're also 1.5 games behind Kansas City for the first wild card spot, and 6 games back of Cleveland in the AL Central, making almost anything from Division Champ to out of the playoffs possible with less than a month left in the season.
Minnesota won two of three against the Angels at Target Field this week with Cincinnati coming to Minneapolis Friday through Sunday.
That leads into what is likely to be the biggest series' of the year for the Twins with four games in Cleveland and three in Boston.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.