Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton left Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox in the second inning because of right knee soreness after an unsuccessful attempt to steal second base.
Buxton, who singled leading off the inning, didn’t slide into second and was thrown out by catcher Kory Lee. Buxton walked off the field slowly and was replaced in the bottom half by Willi Castro, who moved from third base.
Twins VP of Communications Dustin Morse told the WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar the team will get an MRI on his knee on Thursday.
"It's a wait and see. Got through yesterday, and the medical staff and trainers took a look at him and thought it was in everybody's best interest to get an MRI today," says Morse. "So we'll learn more probably this afternoon or later this evening and see how he comes in tomorrow."
An All-Star in 2022, Buxton was limited to 85 games as a designated hitter last season because of a right knee injury. He had offseason surgery on the knee.
Prior to the season, Buxton told WCCO's Jason DeRusha that he hasn't felt this good in quite a while.
"I feel good. It's great to be healthy, I will say that," Buxton tells DeRusha. "When I sit back and realize how healthy I am now compared to the last two years, it's a dramatic difference."
Minnesota went on to win its 10th straight, 10-5 over Chicago. Following the game, manager Rocco Baldelli said Buxton was walking around the clubhouse which is good news.
“He was his normal self this morning,” Baldelli said. “So it was something that came up during the game, I would say.”
Baldelli was quick to say he wouldn't speculate on the extent of the injury however.
"I'm gonna hesitate and slow down before I, you know, comment too much on Buck," said Baldelli. "He's got some soreness in his knee. We're gonna get some imaging done just so we know what we're dealing with and we're gonna start there. I really don't have much more to add because I really don't know at this point where else we're gonna sit. We do have an off day tomorrow. He's been playing a good amount up until this point. We just played 13 in a row. We're gonna take advantage of that off day, get some rest, see where we're at, assess kind of where we're at physically, and we'll know probably more on Friday."
Buxton is batting .250 with one homer and 11 RBIs in 28 games in his 10th major league season. He is in the third year of a $100 million, seven-year contract.
The Twins have had to pull Buxton off the field and put him as a DH just to try and keep his bat in the lineup but that wasn't enough in 2023. Buxton tried to play through the pain but says he knew in July his knee was in bad shape and he needed surgery. He took one at-bat after August 1, in the Twins game 4 loss to Houston in the American League Division Series. He popped out and had knee surgery later in October.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.