The Twins are placing center fielder Byron Buxton on the 7-day concussion-related injured list, according to Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune. A corresponding roster move won’t be announced officially until tomorrow, though Dan Hayes of The Athletic suggests that outfielder Carson McCusker is traveling to Milwaukee to join the club. Nightengale adds that McCusker is expected to be added to the roster tomorrow, though he’s not yet on the 40-man roster and a corresponding move will be necessary in order for him to replace Buxton.
The decision to place Buxton on the shelf isn’t exactly a surprise given that he collided with shortstop Carlos Correa earlier this week, sending both players to the ground and forcing them both to leave the game. Correa was placed on the concussion IL yesterday, and though Buxton initially remained in concussion protocol he’ll now join Correa on the shelf today. Ryan Fitzgerald was added to the Twins’ roster to replace Correa, but Brooks Lee has taken over shortstop in his absence while DaShawn Keirsey Jr. has filled in for Buxton in center.
Losing Buxton is a particularly harsh blow for the Twins because the oft-injured star has been very healthy to this point in the year. After posting a 142 wRC+ last year while crossing the 100 games played threshold for just the second time in his MLB career, Buxton had played in 41 of the club’s 44 games when the collision occurred while hitting an impressive .261/.312/.522 (130 wRC+) in that time. That star-level offensive production in conjunction with Buxton’s elite defense in center field makes him one of the league’s most valuable players when healthy, but now the Twins will have to figure things out without him for at least the next week.
For however long Buxton is out of commission, it seems the club will turn to McCusker for help in the outfield. Just days shy of his 27th birthday, McCusker has not yet made his MLB debut. A 26th-round pick by the Brewers all the way back in 2017, he ultimately did not sign with the club and played college ball before going undrafted and spending parts of three seasons with the Tri-City Valley Cats of the independent Frontier League. The Twins pried him away from indy ball in 2023 and he’s done nothing but hit since then, with a career .290/.358/.528 slash line in the minors that includes a dazzling .350/.412/.650 performance across 154 plate appearances at Triple-A this season.
While McCusker is getting a late start to his big league career after taking an unusual path to the majors, those titanic numbers in the minors make it hard to deny that he’s ready for an opportunity at the sport’s highest level. A right-handed outfielder, perhaps McCusker can share time in an outfield spot with Keirsey while Harrison Bader and Trevor Larnach continue to hold down everyday spots in the Twins’ outfield mix. While Bader’s 146 wRC+ and Larnach’s 109 wRC+ this year are both good enough that a reduction in playing time seems unlikely, Keirsey has hit just .116/.116/.186 so far this year. A strong performance from McCusker could be enough to give him a leg up over Keirsey for the fourth outfield job when Buxton eventually returns to the roster, particularly considering that his right-handed bat would be a better complement for the lefty-swinging Larnach.
When when when Minnesota will you make this man a full time dh. It’s so frustrating it’s painful.
He’s shown over the last few years that he can’t hit when he’s DH full time
He’s also shown he can’t play period if he’s in the outfield. I’m taking healthy vs athletic here. Let him focus on the bat and enjoy the production you can get with it.
When the twins tried putting him at full time DH he became a nuisance on the field, and still got injured
Would you rather have 70 games of elite defense and decent hitting or 70 games of no defense and bad hitting
He’s shown over the years he can’t hit consistently, period. His big hitting strides are mostly all small sample sizes. Biggest hype for a guy who will probably hit .240 or .250 the whole season, if he doesn’t get injured.
Yea. He’s only been slugging well over 500 for like 6 out of 7 years. Sounds like a small sample to me. Definitely a fluke. And for all the injuries he still is an excellent runner. Honestly he’s one of the best players in the world while also being one of the best at getting hurt. But he gets his games in. He’s gonna be there over half the season every year. And he’s gonna hit.
@HEHE I agree limiting him to DH would help mitigate risk of injury with him. However he’s been a pure DH before and still managed to get hurt.
Sad to think what could ve been up until now had he been able to stay healthy more throughout his career.
Because you don’t make an elite defensive center fielder a DH.
You also don’t make a career .245 hitter a full time DH.
Byron buxton try not to get injured challenge (100% impossible)
Not his fault
It isn’t, but the Twins should expect it
The collision with Correa was all Buxton’s fault. It was shallow and he should have let Correa have it.
In other news, grass is green.
That play was Correa’s fault. As soon as Burton called for it, Correa needed to stop and peel off out of his way. He kept going backwards and ran right into him. Tough break for both players.
Yeah, I watched Elly do a similar thing the other day…
Correa lacks baseball IQ
Where was Royce Lewis when this happened?
Going to guess it’ll be Wallner to the 60 day IL?