MINNEAPOLIS — In the midst of a tight division race with the Cleveland Guardians, the Minnesota Twins will be without All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton for the next 10 days, at least.
The team, which entered Tuesday two games back of the Guardians, announced on Tuesday that they've placed Buxton on the 10-day injured list after he left Monday night's game -- a 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers -- in the seventh inning with a hip injury. Team officials are classifying it as a "low grade right hip strain," according to a press release.
When healthy, Buxton is one of the team's -- and league's -- top players, however, injuries have followed him around for much of his MLB career. Since being called up in 2015, Buxton has only had one season where he'd appeared in more than 100 games.
This season, Buxton's hitting .224 with 28 home runs, which was tied for third-most in the AL entering Tuesday. He's scored 61 runs with 51 RBI. His .526 slugging percentage and .832 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) both lead the team.
Also on Tuesday, the Twins announced that they've selected right-handed pitcher Aaron Sanchez's contract and will be starting him Tuesday night against the Houston Astros. The Twins also recalled catcher Caleb Hamilton and optioned left-handed pitcher Devin Smeltzer.
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