CHICAGO -- Byron Buxton is quite obviously healthy enough to produce at the plate, but the Twins star is dealing with a couple of knocks that have him currently limited to designated hitter duty.
Buxton homered yet again on Wednesday in the Twins’ 15-2 loss to the White Sox, the team’s only baserunner against the very impressive rookie David Sandlin. It was his team-leading 17th long ball and the 24th leadoff homer of his career, the second most in Twins history behind Brian Dozier (28).
Buxton suffered some right hip soreness over the team’s last homestand, causing him to miss five games. Since returning on May 19, he’s played the outfield only once, and Wednesday night marked his third straight start at DH. His speed looks excellent, as evidenced by his baserunning on Brooks Lee’s game-winning hit in the 11th inning on Tuesday, but he said after the game that stopping still brings him some discomfort.
“We're working on that brake system,” Buxton said. “It's good though. Every day it's progressing, feeling better. Keep going day by day and go from there. Obviously it's May so I don't want to do something stupid, which is hard. They're keeping me contained.”
Manager Derek Shelton said Wednesday afternoon, meanwhile, that Buxton is also dealing with an issue in his right (throwing) shoulder, a result of a slide over the weekend in Boston. The combination means that he’s being held out from playing center.
“Buck’s still battling a shoulder thing,” Shelton said. “He slid in in Boston and kind of jammed it a little bit so he’s been battling that a little bit.”
The Twins have used a variety of players in center in Buxton’s absence, including Austin Martin, James Outman and Ryan Kreidler, but Wednesday brought a new face there: Kody Clemens. It was Clemens’ first professional start in center field, homering in the eighth inning. He entered the game having played one inning in center in his career.
“It was just a quick conversation [with Shelton],” Clemens said. “He asked me how comfortable I am. I just said I haven’t played it really, but I feel like sometimes the ball is truer in center. I just said, ‘Yeah, that’s fine. I’m down.’ He said, ‘All right, you’re playing there tomorrow.’ I mean, it was exciting. I thought it was cool. I love the view from there and it was fun.”
With a starting outfield of Trevor Larnach, Austin Martin and Clemens, Shelton elected to keep Martin in right field rather than sliding him to center to accommodate Clemens. Martin is playing right field regularly for the first time, and the Twins want him to get all the reps that he can there.
Bradley pushed back, Rojas to start finale
Right-hander Taj Bradley’s next start will be pushed back one day to give him extra time between outings as the Twins find themselves in the middle of 17 straight games without a day off. It will be Bradley’s second start since coming off the injured list, so it’s unsurprising to give him a little extra time. He’ll go in the Friday night series opener in Pittsburgh.
Lefty Kendry Rojas will take his place, continuing his swingman role in his rookie season. It will be his second Major League start in his sixth appearance.
Twins tidbits
After a slow start to his time at Triple-A St. Paul, Matt Wallner has shown encouraging signs the past couple of days. He doubled twice on Tuesday, then singled and drew two walks on Wednesday. … Right-hander Luis Garcia has elected free agency after clearing waivers. He was designated for assignment when Bradley was reinstated from the injured list. … Right-hander Dan Altavilla has been released. He had been pitching at St. Paul.