An already rough season for Byron Buxton got worse Thursday as he left a game with the Rochester Red Wings with an injury.
The Red Wings announced that Buxton left the game with an apparent hand injury, and Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that he left the game in the middle of an at-bat after fouling off three pitches in the fourth inning.
Buxton will undergo X-rays and testing over the next few days.
Paul Molitor said there’s some concern after Byron Buxton’s injury exit (hand) at Triple-A.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) July 13, 2018
The 24-year-old outfielder, once the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, has played in just 28 games with the Twins this season due to migraine headaches and a hairline fracture in his toe.
Buxton was able to overcome the headaches and toe injury, but the Twins optioned him to Triple-A Rochester in mid-June so he could work on the mechanics of his swing.
“Once I work out a few kinks I’ll be back on track,” Buxton told 1500 ESPN earlier this month. “I’m not going to put any more pressure on myself; don’t have any pressure. Stay confident. Stay loose. Keep having fun.”
Buxton’s approach seemed to be working. From June 30 to July 8, he raised his batting average by 50 points, and then suffered the hand injury.
Now, we wait and see how serious the injury is.
