A sprained wrist will likely keep Minnesota Twins top prospect Byron Buxton out of the Opening Day lineup for the Class AA New Britain Rock Cats, the Star Tribune reports.
Buxton injured his wrist while attempting to make a diving catch during a spring training game 10 days ago. The report says an MRI taken over the weekend showed no structural damage, but Buxton still feels pain when swinging a back, which will likely force the Twins to place him on the disabled list. He’s expected to miss a couple of weeks.
“That wasn’t exactly the news I was looking for, but I guess if they say it’s a couple weeks then it’s a couple weeks,” Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said, according to the Pioneer Press. “As long as it’s not worse than they thought. Unfortunate, but that’s the way it goes.”
It isn’t a big disturbance in the growth of his career, but as 1500 ESPN notes, the Twins are anxious to see how the 20-year-old can handle Double-A pitching.
Buxton can do it all on a baseball field. He hit .334 with 12 home runs, 77 RBI, 19 doubles, 18 triples and 55 stolen bases while playing for Class A Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers last season. Baseball American ranked Buxton the No. 1 overall prospect in all of minor-league baseball. He’s also the No. 1 prospect according to ESPN and MLB.com.
