Minnesota Twins may have avoided a major Byron Buxton injury scare

Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton was carted off the field on Monday, but early reports are positive.

The Minnesota Twins are just 10 days away from opening the 2020 season on the road against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, but the organization is first hoping for some good news about their star center fielder Byron Buxton after an injury scare on Monday afternoon.

As shown in the video below from The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman, Twins outfielder Byron Buxton was carted off the field on Monday after appearing to get his spikes caught in the turf while tracking down a Nelson Cruz fly ball.

The initial report from Twins manager Rocco Baldelli after scans of Buxton’s foot is “cautiously optimistic” per Dan Hayes of the Athletic.

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From groin injuries to thumb, wrist, and toe ailments, Buxton has missed significant time since becoming a big leaguer, including having his 2019 season cut short due to shoulder surgery. The Minnesota Twins can’t afford to have Buxton miss any time in a shortened 60-game season this year as they attempt to win an American League Central title for the second-straight season.

Buxton, a former second overall pick of the Twins back in 2012, has appeared in just 115 games over the past two seasons, but was having a career-year in 2019 before shoulder surgery.

In 87 games for Minnesota, Buxton owned a .262/.314/.513 slash line with 10 home runs, 30 doubles, and 14 stolen bases. He finished with a career-best 111 wRC+, .251 ISO, and a 23% strikeout rate (more than 10% lower than his only full season in 2017).

Add in his spectacular defense in center field and Buxton was worth 2.7 Wins Above Replacement, per Fangraphs, and on pace to surpass his 3.6 fWAR total of 2017.

Even without Buxton in the lineup for much of 2019, the Twins won 101 games, taking the AL Central by eight games over the Cleveland Indians. In typical Minnesota Twins fashion, however, the New York Yankees awaited in the playoffs, once again ending the Twins season short of a World Series appearance.

Byron Buxton is expected to be a key piece to the Minnesota Twins roster in 2020.

With new additions to the roster that includes infielder Josh Donaldson (70 extra-base hits, .900 OPS with Atlanta last year) and pitcher Kenta Maeda (169 strikeouts, .202 average against, 1.07 WHIP with the Dodgers), the Twins are in a position to get over that playoff hump and make a run at a 2020 World Series title.

A healthy Byron Buxton who plays like early 2019 Byron Buxton will go a long way in helping separate Minnesota from the rest of the division.

Despite only playing half a season, Buxton tied for fifth among all center fielders in Outs Above Average with 12 and turned an estimated success rate of 88% into an actual success rate of 93% on batted balls sent his way.

Need speed? Only Tim Locastro and Trea Turner had a higher average sprint speed in 2019 than Buxton (30.3 feet/second). That speed has translated to an 88% success rate on stolen bases and a total of 42 Defensive Runs Saved in 393 career major league games.

The oft-injured outfielder hasn’t been able to fully live up to his hype just yet, but at only 26 years old, Buxton still has plenty of time to settle in and show he can have a long and healthy career.

Let’s just hope he can begin the 2020 season on a healthy note and Monday’s scare was just that, a scare and nothing more.