ARLINGTON, Texas —
The IL move was retroactive to Tuesday, so the earliest Buxton could return is Aug. 23.
Minnesota recalled infielder Edouard Julien from Triple-A St. Paul for his third stint with the Twins this season.
The 30-year-old Buxton was hitting .275 with 16 homers and 49 RBIs in 90 games this season. He had seven homers in his last 55 at-bats before striking out in the fifth inning against Kansas City on Monday night, then being replaced in the field in the sixth inning. The Twins described him then as day-to-day.
Buxton missed three games earlier this month with back stiffness and was out 14 games in May because of inflammation in his right knee. A strained right hip sidelined him for the final six weeks of the 2022 season, an injury believed to be linked to the persistent knee pain he played with that year. He had arthroscopic surgery on the knee then, and again last October.
Baldelli said the Twins were waiting as long as possible before making the latest IL move, but don’t anticipate that Buxton being out much longer than the minimum stay.
“We didn’t make the decision to go and put him on the IL because we were just trying to play it safe. We were trying to actually keep him active,” Baldelli said. “That’s why he didn’t go on the IL yesterday, and that’s why, even with him not traveling with the team, we still waited to put him on the IL. We wanted to see how he was this morning.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
