Chicago – Byron Buxton was feeling good overall at Wrigley Field after a pre-game workout on the field Friday afternoon, save for the lingering wildfire smoke hanging over the Windy City.
“Yeah, it’s not fun,” Buxton said, “but got the job done.”
The Minnesota Twins have their All-Star center fielder building up baseball activities after placing him on the 10-day IL with a right hip strain on July 6. Buxton left the first inning of Minnesota’s 6-1 victory at Yankee Stadium on July 5 after he had been caught stealing second base.
It was the first time Buxton was caught stealing in 37 attempts. Still, given the Twins only had six games left until the All-Star Break, they felt it best to shut him down so he could be ready to play out most of the second half. Now that the second half is underway, the Twins are taking things one day at a time with his progress.
“He’s going to hit and go through some other baseball stuff,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “I think just right now, just going day-to-day on how he feels.”
“It felt good,” said Buxton. “It’s one of those where just kind of looking forward to the next day, making sure everything was good with that, and just kind of moving forward.”
Even though Buxton’s IL stint caused him to miss out on his first All-Star Game start as voted in by the fans, he and his family were still able to enjoy the full festivities.
“The biggest thing was just seeing the boys being able to enjoy it a little bit more,” Buxton said. “They understood it, so to be able to experience that with them again at a bigger age is something I get to cherish.”
Buxton said his sons Brixton, Blaze, and Baire enjoyed the Home Run Derby more than anything else. They watched as Jordan Walker put on one of the best hitting performances of his young career. Every player they interacted with was amazing to them. However, Mike Trout was the one they were all happy to spend time with.
“The boys got to see Trout when we (were) getting ready to leave,” said Buxton. “Being able to watch him for a little while, that’s kind of cool to see their reaction.”
Even with Shelton on the American League coaching staff and readily able to check in on Buxton and his health, he mainly left him and teammate Joe Ryan to their own devices during the festivities.
“I did check on Buck during the game on Tuesday just because I knew he had gone up and hit,” said Shelton. “I do think it’s fortunate, at least I mean, David Popkins was there. So there’s a relationship to know going back because he had been the hitting coach for the Twins and being able to go through his work.”
The work helped Buxton get back on track for his return. It also improves his chances of returning from the IL sometime during their seven-game road trip in Chicago and Cleveland.
“Definitely see an impact as far as it feeling better,” said Buxton. “Obviously haven’t done a lot but I’m going to do a good bit of stuff over the next couple of days to see where I’m at.”
During the All-Star Game, Buxton had several players gravitate to him to talk shop. They exchanged notes on how they go about their business, including Trout and Chicago White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters. Buxton didn’t first see Peters in the majors, though, and it was fun to discuss his unique journey.
“I saw [Peters] play with Savannah Bananas,” said Buxton. “Just seeing his route to where he got to, that’s pretty incredible, for sure.”
