Buxton day to day with bone bruise on right knee

DL stint unlikely as MRI reveals no structural damage

August 1st, 2016

CLEVELAND -- The Twins received good news on on Monday, as the MRI exam taken on his right knee showed no structural damage. He has been dealing with a bone bruise that was aggravated while running the bases on Sunday, but he's considered day to day. The Twins don't believe a stint on the 15-day disabled list is necessary.
Buxton initially injured his knee while running into the center-field wall trying to make a catch against the Rangers on July 8 in Texas. He has been able to play through the injury, but he came out of Sunday's game after reinjuring his knee while stealing second base in the second inning. Buxton did it while running, causing him to ditch his slide attempt into second and stealing second base standing up as a result.
"The MRI came back negative, but the bone bruise he got from crashing into the wall continues to be a problem to a degree," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "He aggravated it yesterday somewhat peculiarly while running. He felt a popping sensation, which I'm not sure if that's totally been explained, but it prevented him from going into a slide."

Buxton, who underwent the MRI exam in Minnesota, was given clearance to rejoin the Twins in Cleveland on Monday, and Molitor said he expects him to be available, although he wasn't in the starting lineup against the Indians.
As Molitor noted, Buxton didn't sustain the injury on the non-slide, as he felt it while running into second base. Buxton initially remained in the game but came out after running to third base on a grounder that ended the inning.
Worth noting
• Lefty , who was acquired by the Twins from the Angels in a four-player trade that sent right-hander to Los Angeles, will make his Twins debut on Thursday against the Indians. Fellow lefty will head to the bullpen, while will rejoin the rotation to start on Wednesday.
• With the Twins trading lefty reliever to the Red Sox for Triple-A reliever , Molitor said he'll use a combination of right-hander and left-hander in the eighth inning leading up to closer .