Playoff-contending Twins put CF Byron Buxton on 10-day IL because of hip inflammation

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday, three days after coming out of a game because of inflammation in his right hip.

Manager Rocco Baldelli said Buxton, who wasn’t with the playoff-contending Twins for their series opener at Texas, had an injection and was doing OK, but wasn’t going to be available to play for a few more days.

“We just understood that he wasn’t going to be back for a few more days and we have some other players that are probably also going to need to be off at some point over the next handful of days,” Baldelli said. “We just can’t play short for almost a week in order to do that.”

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.

Minnesota was 67-53 going into the opener of its four-game series at reigning World Series champion Texas. The Twins held down the American League’s second wild card, and were 4 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.

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 his 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.”

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Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press