CHICAGO \u2014 Byron Buxton prefers to play center field, but for now, he\u2019ll settle for being in the Minnesota Twins\u2019 lineup.<\/p>\n
Nursing a sore but improving right hip flexor muscle, and apparently a bum right shoulder, too, Buxton was again limited to designated hitting duties Wednesday. In an attempt to help Buxton navigate the soreness and avoid a setback, the Twins largely have largely used him as their DH since he returned to the lineup more than a week ago.<\/p>\n
Though in previous seasons Buxton acknowledged he doesn\u2019t like to DH because it prevents him from making an impact as a defender, he\u2019s OK with the current setup. Buxton provided the Twins\u2019 lone bright spot in a 15-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night, leading off the game with a solo home run at Rate Field.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s probably me being more cautious than (Buxton) being more cautious,\u201d Twins manager Derek Shelton said. \u201cIn this case right now, I just feel it\u2019s better for him to make sure he\u2019s in our lineup. \u2026 Right now, in my mind, it\u2019s best for him to DH.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even when he\u2019s not at full strength, Buxton is one of the biggest offensive difference makers in the league.<\/p>\n
Playing more games in 2025 than he had in all but one previous season, Buxton finished with a career-high 35 home runs and 24 stolen bases. Since 2019, Buxton\u2019s OPS+ is 132.<\/p>\n
But the two-time All-Star has been even better this season, hitting .259\/.319\/.579 and appearing in 47 of the team\u2019s first 56 games. Buxton homered on the second pitch thrown by White Sox rookie David Sandlin in his major-league debut Wednesday, the 17th round-tripper he\u2019s hit this season.<\/p>\n
Buxton is on pace for 81 extra-base hits, 18 more than his career best of 63 set last season.<\/p>\n
Following Tuesday\u2019s 11-inning victory, one Buxton helped spark with a walk ahead of Brooks Lee\u2019s three-run, game-winning double, the veteran recognized how imperative it is he remain in the Twins\u2019 lineup. Even though he\u2019d like to play defense and drown out any noise associated with a rough at-bat, Buxton is willing to be relegated to DH for now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel better,\u201d Buxton said. \u201cObviously, I want to be playing outfield and separate my mind a little bit more. Just to be able to play and still be able to do the things I want to do, gotta take it. That\u2019s the positive side of what we\u2019re working with. Sooner or later it will be good.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he tracked Lee\u2019s double Tuesday, Buxton demonstrated how close to healthy he feels by racing around the bases. On the play, Buxton, who described himself as \u201coff to the races,\u201d nearly caught up to the speedy Luke Keaschall, who began the play at second base.<\/p>\n
Still, Buxton is trying to iron out issues on how to slow down. After crossing home plate on Lee\u2019s hit, Buxton made a turn and ran to the far end of the Twins\u2019 dugout to gradually slow down, as opposed to stopping quickly and potentially aggravating his hip issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working on that brake system,\u201d Buxton said. \u201cIt\u2019s good though. Every day it\u2019s progressing, feeling better. Keep going day by day and go from there. Obviously, it\u2019s May, so I don\u2019t want to do something stupid, which is hard. They\u2019re keeping me contained. I\u2019m telling them all the time, \u2018Put me out there. I\u2019ll be fine. Put me out there.\u2019 They\u2019re like, \u2018You\u2019re not going to be fine because you\u2019re going to go out there 100 percent and you\u2019re not where you want to be.\u2019 It\u2019s understanding the process. They know me pretty well. They know where I want to be, so I\u2019m trusting the process and to still be able to play and contribute to the team. That\u2019s positive. Take it one day at a time. Stay positive. Keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Buxton\u2019s hip is progressing nicely enough, Shelton identified the outfielder\u2019s throwing shoulder as a bigger reason he\u2019s been limited to DH.<\/p>\n
Since returning to the lineup May 19, Buxton has appeared as DH six times in seven games. His only start in center field came in Saturday\u2019s win at Boston, a game in which Buxton apparently dinged his shoulder sliding into second base on a pitch that was fouled off. After Wednesday\u2019s loss, Buxton was seen wearing an ice pack on his throwing shoulder in the visiting clubhouse.<\/p>\n
With Buxton limited, the Twins are rolling with several different players in center field.<\/p>\n
After receiving approval from outfield coach Grady Sizemore on Wednesday, Kody Clemens made his first career start \u2014 and only his second appearance \u2014 in center field. The Twins have also used James Outman, Ryan Kreidler and Austin Martin in center this season, though Shelton said Martin is likely to remain in right to continue getting repetitions at his new position.<\/p>\n
Shelton is confident he\u2019ll know when Buxton is ready to resume patrolling the outfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe communicate a ton,\u201d Shelton said. \u201c(I know how) valuable he is to us, and if there\u2019s times that we\u2019re going to err on the side of him being in the lineup, and it\u2019s at DH, and we have to adjust, then I\u2019m going to make that decision and take that upon myself. The one thing that Buck does really well is he articulates where he\u2019s at and (how) he feels. He would prefer to play center field \u2014 100 percent every day would prefer to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prielipp\u2019s control costly in blowout loss<\/p>\n
Connor Prielipp issued three leadoff walks in Wednesday\u2019s loss, two of which came around to score. Throw in eight hits allowed, and the Chicago White Sox had their way with Prielipp and the Twins in the 15-2 drubbing.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust bad execution overall and just not good,\u201d said Prielipp, who allowed six earned runs and took the loss. \u201cIt just can\u2019t happen. \u2026 They made me pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shelton wasn\u2019t pleased with much about his team\u2019s effort. Clemens provided the Twins\u2019 other run when he led off the eighth inning with a solo homer, a long ball that snapped a stretch of 21 straight batters retired by White Sox pitching.<\/p>\n
Travis Adams surrendered two home runs, the first homers yielded by a Twins reliever since rookie John Klein allowed one May 8.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t play good,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cWe\u2019ve played really well for a stretch of time, and sometimes you have games like that. There\u2019s not much we did well overall.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Twins are seeking a series split with Chicago in Thursday\u2019s finale.<\/p>\n
The Twins will send Kendry Rojas to the mound to start what\u2019s expected to be a bullpen game.<\/p>\n
Originally, the Twins planned for Taj Bradley to start. But with the team in the middle of 17 straight games without an off day, and Bradley just off the injured list, the Twins pushed his next start back to Friday in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 Byron Buxton prefers to play center field, but for now, he\u2019ll settle for being in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2326,363,99],"class_list":["post-669976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}