The Twins announced that center fielder Byron Buxton has been activated from the seven-day concussion injured list. Buxton and Triple-A callup Sean Poppen are active for tonight’s game against the White Sox, with outfielder Jake Cave and southpaw Devin Smeltzer optioned to Triple-A in corresponding 25-man roster moves.
After making a diving catch on July 13, Buxton experienced some concussion symptoms that led the Twins to sideline the center fielder. It was the second brief IL stint of the year for Buxton, who also missed some time in June due to a right wrist contusion.
While Buxton has yet to live up to the enormous hype that followed his selection as the second overall pick in the 2012 draft, the 25-year-old has at the very least put his troubled 2018 season behind him with a very strong showing this year. Buxton has hit .249/.308/.490 with nine homers over 268 PA, putting him on-pace for his first above-average (104 wRC+) offensive performance in his young career. Beyond the promise shown by improvements in his hard-contact and walk rates, Buxton continues to be a huge plus away from the plate, as he has already become one of the game’s best defensive center fielders.
FINALLY!! Now please stop diving and running into walls please!! Now go get Thor
They’re 25 games over .500 when he has started this year, and 4 under when he hasn’t – he just makes the outfield so much better. Any production at the plate is a bonus.
Jake Cave is a trainwreck. No more, please.
Cave will be back every time Buxton wrecks his train! Need to keep Buxton from running off his rails.
Buxton can be a game changer when he’s here and healthy.
I welcome him back.
And I have liked what I’ve seen out of the call-ups lately in the bullpen.
Twins still need to pick up a decent, controllable starter (mainly for next year), move one of their current starters to the pen, and then spend big on an established back-of-the-pen guy to team-up with Rogers.
Gibby can go to the bullpen. He has’nt been great lately. I think he’s done as a starter.
Nice!
We get to see Buxton play for 5-10 days, until he gets hurt again!