Buxton's bad luck: Twins star shelved again, has broken hand

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The glimpses of Byron Buxton's game-changing, worth-the-admission skills have grown broader over the last three years as the Minnesota Twins center fielder has blossomed with the bat to match his long-superior work with the glove.

Those bursts of dominance just keep getting interrupted, though: Buxton has landed on the injured list yet again after another bout with bad luck.

In his third game back after a 39-game absence to a strained right hip, Buxton was hit on the left hand by a pitch from Cincinnati's Tyler Mahle on Monday night and broke a bone in his pinky finger. The timetable for his return has not yet been set, as the Twins were still determining a treatment plan and whether surgery would help, but a month or so of recovery time appears likely.

Buxton has what is referred to as a boxer’s fracture, which is fitting because he has for much of his career found himself sparring with the injury bug.

“He’s beyond upset, and that’s what I would expect from him,” manager Rocco Baldelli said before the game on Tuesday. “This is not something that’s easily described or talked about for anyone. I think the number of traumas, physically, that he’s had to deal with — and because of that, emotionally, when you have to deal with that many types of difficult things — it’s hard on you.”

Baldelli had to hold back a restless Buxton last week as his hip rehabilitation wound down, and the 27-year-old was discouraged by the wait for clearance.

“It’s a little bit tougher for him to let me go. It’s hard. You know, we let Rocco kind of stick to the managing thing and we just try to get on his nerves to let us play,” Buxton said on Saturday after his return to the lineup. "It’s just one of those things where you want him to tell you no, rather than you feeling like...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Buxton-s-bad-luck-Twins-star-shelved-again-has-16266029.php