Byron Buxton appears close to returning from the injured list and the Twins have no plans to give the veteran center fielder more off days as the team winds down a season that won’t end in the postseason.
Sidelined since leaving a July 26 loss to Washington with inflammation in his left rib cage, Buxton will travel to New York for a three-game series against the Yankees and could be activated as early as Monday.
Before getting hurt, Buxton, 31, was on pace to get near his career-high of 140 games played in 2017. He has played in 85 games and been on the IL twice, the first time for a concussion suffered in a collision with then-teammate Carlos Correa.
“I think we’re just going to plan on playing Buck every day as he has been,” manager Rocco Baldelli said before the Twins series finale against Kansas City on Sunday. “When he needs a day, he gets a day. It’s pretty straightforward. I’m not overthinking it. I think we’re going to have Buck on the field every day that he is capable of playing.”
An all-star for the second time this season, Buxton leads the Twins in home runs (23), RBIs (59), triples (4), stolen bases (17) and — among players with at least 50 at-bats — OPS (.901)..
Keaschall and counting
Rookie infielder Luke Keaschall has reached base in all 12 of his major league games, and has an 11-game hit streak to start his major league career.
Playing second base in his fifth game since returning from a broken forearm, Keaschall singled sharply to left field to lead off the second inning to extend his streak.
Keaschall is now second in team history to only Glen Williams, who started his major league career with a 13-game hitting streak in 2005.
Welcome to the club
Ryan Fitzgerald, a longtime minor league vet who signed a minor league contract with the Twins, hit a two-run home run to right field in the third inning for his first major league hit.
Playing third base, Fitzgerald, 31, is the 15th player in Twins history to homer for his first major league hit. The last to do it was Caleb Hamilton on Sept. 25, 2022.
Briefly
Mickey Gasper became the first catcher other than Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez to start a game behind the plate for the Twins since the start of the 2023 season. … Prior to Sunday’s game, the Twins and Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety recognized nearly 70 state law enforcement officers who collectively made 5,120 driving while impaired arrests — nearly 20% of state’s DWI arrests in 2024. The group included seven police officers from St. Paul, Maplewood, South St. Paul and Woodbury.
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