Buxton (hamstring) remains out of the lineup Thursday at St. Louis.
Buxton was scratched from the Twins' lineup Wednesday due to right hamstring tightness and needs at least one more day of rest and treatment. Jorge Polanco will take a turn at designated hitter Thursday while Kyle Farmer covers third base.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Scratched with tight hamstring
Rotowire
Buxton was scratched from the lineup Wednesday at St. Louis with right hamstring tightness, Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
Buxton may have tweaked his hamstring while legging out a double in the Twins' defeat of the Cardinals on Tuesday night. There's no word yet as to the severity of the injury. Consider him day-to-day for now.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Bangs out three doubles
Rotowire
Buxton went 3-for-3 with three doubles, two runs scored and two RBI in Saturday's 10-7 loss to the Royals.
He was also hit by a pitch. Buxton clawed his way back over the Mendoza Line with the performance, but his .206/.295/.436 slash line remains far below expectations. The 29-year-old also has yet to play a game in the field in 2023, making all his starts at DH, and it's fair to wonder if his surgically repaired right knee has ever been 100 percent healthy in 2023.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Out of lineup Friday
Rotowire
Buxton is absent from the lineup Friday at Kansas City.
Buxton is back from paternity leave, but he'll be on the bench as the Twins open a three-game series against the Royals. Matt Wallner is taking a turn at designated hitter and hitting sixth.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Back from paternity leave
Rotowire
Buxton was activated from the paternity leave list Thursday, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
The Twins are off Thursday, but Buxton will be back in action this weekend in Kansas City. He's just 3-for-33 with 17 strikeouts at the plate so far in the second half.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Goes on paternity leave
Rotowire
Buxton was placed on the paternity leave list Monday, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.
Buxton will likely miss the entirety of the Twins' series against the Mariners but should rejoin the club this weekend in Kansas City. Trevor Larnach has been recalled to take Buxton's spot on the roster and is an option to see starts in Buxton's vacated designated hitter spot.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Likely headed for paternity leave
Rotowire
The Twins are expected to place Buxton on the paternity list prior to Monday's game against the Mariners, Ted Schwerzler of TwinsDaily.com reports.
The team has yet to confirm any transaction related to Buxton, but outfielder Trevor Larnach was pulled early Sunday in Triple-A St. Paul's 3-1 loss to Omaha for non-injury-related reasons and looks poised to get called up as a replacement for the Twins' top designated hitter. Assuming Buxton spends the maximum three days on the paternity list, he'll miss the entirety of the team's home series versus Seattle before rejoining the big club ahead of its three-game set in Kansas City this weekend.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Goes deep twice
Rotowire
Buxton went 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI in Friday's victory over the White Sox.
Buxton clocked a three-run homer in the first inning followed by a solo shot in the fourth. He finally snapped out of an ugly 1-for-35 skid with his first extra-base hit since July 4. Buxton has 17 home runs but his 31.5 percent strikeout rate has led to an unsightly .197/.284/.426 slash line. The 29-year-old was dropped to sixth in the lineup Friday, just the sixth time he's hit lower than the cleanup spot this year.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Getting day off Tuesday
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Buxton is absent from the lineup for Tuesday's game in Seattle, Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.
Matt Wallner will be the Twins' designated hitter. Reusse categorizes it as a "mental break" for Buxton, who is 0-for-21 with 13 strikeouts over his last five games. It hasn't been a total loss in roto leagues with Buxton hitting 15 homers and stealing eight bases in 2023. However, the 29-year-old is slashing just .196/.285/.409 on the season, and his 31.3 percent strikeout rate would be his highest since 2016.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Heating up ahead of break
Rotowire
Buxton went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, two additional runs scored and a stolen base in Tuesday's 9-3 win over the Royals.
He took Zack Greinke deep in the fifth inning, giving Buxton 15 homers on the year, while his seventh-inning steal was his eighth. The 29-year-old has eight hits in his last six games, including two separate contests with a home run and a stolen base, and while his .216/306/.457 slash line on the season remains disappointing, he's showing signs of turning things around in the second half.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Big performance in big win
Rotowire
Buxton went 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, a three-run home run, a second run scored and a stolen base in Friday's 8-1 rout of the Orioles.
It was one of the most complete performances of the season for the 29-year-old, who last stole a base May 24. Buxton hasn't been able to deliver consistent production this season, but he's at least beginning to find his power stroke again -- over his last 10 games, he's batting .242 (8-for-33) with seven of the hits (three doubles and four homers) going for extra bases.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Returns to lineup Tuesday
Rotowire
Buxton is back in the lineup Tuesday against Atlanta.
Buxton will serve as the Twins' designated hitter and cleanup man after being relegated to pinch-hitting duties Sunday and Monday. He's been bothered recently by back spasms and is also still limited by lingering knee troubles. There's no timetable for when he might return to the outfield.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Out of lineup Monday
Rotowire
Buxton is absent from the lineup Monday at Atlanta.
Buxton might still be experiencing complications related to the back spasms that prompted his early exit from Saturday's game against the Tigers, though he did appear off the bench in Sunday's series finale. Edouard Julien will handle the DH duties and hit leadoff for the Twins on Monday versus Atlanta.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Returns as pinch hitter
Rotowire
Buxton (back) ground out as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning in Sunday's win at Detroit.
Buxton exited Saturday's contest due to back spasms, but it looks like a minor issue since he was able to play Sunday. He could be back in the starting lineup Monday against Atlanta.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Held out of Sunday's lineup
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Buxton (back) is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Tigers.
The 29-year-old exited Saturday's contest due to back spasms and won't return to the starting nine for Sunday's series finale in Detroit. Manager Rocco Baldelli indicated Buxton aggravated a back issue the slugger has played through for much of the season, and he should be considered day-to-day for now.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Will test back Sunday
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Buxton will test his back before Sunday's game versus the Tigers, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters after Saturday's game that Buxton aggravated a season-long issue in his back. The 29-year-old attempted to stay in the game by testing it out in swings, but he wasn't able to stay in the contest. Whether Buxton is able to play in the series finale against Detroit on Sunday will be determined largely by how he feels during that testing.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Removed due to back spasms
Rotowire
Buxton was removed from Saturday's game against the Tigers due to back spasms, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout before leaving.
He was replaced by pinch hitter Willi Castro after Buxton experienced the spasms. The 29-year-old has struggled with the bat as of late and has just an .207 average on the season, and he also missed a couple of weeks with a rib contusion he suffered at the start of June. He should be considered day-to-day at this stage.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Mashes two homers
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Buxton went 2-for-4 with two solo homers in Thursday's victory over the Red Sox.
Buxton wasn't messing around, crushing mammoth home runs of 466 and 465 feet in his first two at-bats. He would not reach base again in the contest, but the damage had already been done as the Twins cruised to a shutout victory to split the series with Boston. After going hitless through his first six games in June, the slugger is now 5-for-11 with three homers, four RBI and four runs scored over his last three games.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Bursts out of slump
Rotowire
Buxton went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in Tuesday's loss to Boston.
Buxton swatted his 11th homer of the campaign, taking Corey Kluber yard in the eighth inning to plate Edouard Julien for MInnesota's first runs of the game. The multi-hit outing was Buxton's first since May 23 and also broke a 10-game cold snap where he went 1-for-34 (0.29) with 17 strikeouts. Though Buxton has been hampered by a knee and ribs injury throughout 2023, Tuesday's contest may be a signal of better things to come from the talented 29-year-old.
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Twins' Byron Buxton: Not nearing return to outfield
Rotowire
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli acknowledged Tuesday that Buxton (knee) is still unable to play the outfield, Patrick Borzi of MinnPost.com reports.
Buxton still has limitations related to his September 2022 right knee surgery and will continue to get his playing time out of the DH role, possibly for the remainder of the 2023 season. Baldelli told reporters that the condition of the knee hasn't worsened but also hasn't improved. Buxton, 29, is 1-for-34 (.029) with 17 strikeouts over his last 10 games and his season OPS has fallen to .715.
