Twins players are bracing for a week of roster moves with the trade deadline approaching on Thursday evening. Already the Twins have sent Chris Paddack to the Detroit Tigers, and more moves are likely over the next couple days.
It wasn’t a trade, but the Twins made another big move on Tuesday, placing outfielder Byron Buxton on the injured list before the game. Buxton left Saturday’s game early and has not played since as he deals with left ribcage inflammation.
The Twins sent Buxton for magnetic resonance imaging on Sunday and manager Rocco Baldelli said that day the diagnosis was “a good outcome” and that Buxton would “hopefully be back very soon.”
But now his day-to-day injury will have him out for at least 10, and the Twins will have to make do without their most-impactful player. The all-star center fielder is hitting .282 with a .905 OPS and 23 home runs in 85 games while stay relatively healthy. He missed two weeks after colliding with Carlos Correa and suffering a concussion earlier in the season but otherwise has been out on the field most days, the most consistent bright spot on the team.
The Twins have a number of players who can play center in his absence, including Harrison Bader, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. or even Willi Castro, who hasn’t played there much this year but has in the past But Bader and Castro are impending free agents and could be dealt before Thursday.
Twins fill Paddack’s spot with Ohl
Injuries to Pablo López, Bailey Ober and David Festa, plus the trade of Paddack on Monday, have left the starting rotation in flux. With Paddack gone — he has been scheduled to start on Tuesday — the Twins turned to rookie Pierson Ohl, who was making his major league debut.
Ohl, a 14th-round draft pick in 2021, had a 2.17 earned-run average across 66 1/3 minor league innings pitched this year. Most of his season has been spent in Double-A Wichita, but he made seven appearances at Triple-A St. Paul before his promotion. The Twins have had him on a similar schedule to Travis Adams, who pitched on Sunday and has since been sent down, where they are throwing in shorter outings every four days rather than longer starts every five days.
“He’s very comfortable out there on the mound,” Baldelli said of Ohl. “I think he’s a pretty methodical and thoughtful pitcher.”
Briefly
Ryan Jeffers returned to the Twins on Tuesday after missing the past three games on the paternity list. Jeffers and his wife, Lexi, welcomed their second child, a son whom they named Hayes, on Saturday. … The Twins have yet to name a starter for Wednesday game, though it is possible it could be Ober returning from the injured list.
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