Rocco Baldelli raises alarm over Byron Buxton's health
Byron Buxton has been playing through more issues than the public is aware of, according to Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.
Buxton grimaced in pain after fouling off a pitch in the fifth inning of Minnesota's 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers Monday night. He stayed in the game only to be removed later with a hip injury that Baldelli says Buxton has been dealing with in secret.
"I'm not sure exactly when he tweaked his hip, but he had a few things go on today where you could tell he was really feeling it," Baldelli said after the Twins' third straight loss. "We know over the last few days he's been in a spot where he's been on the verge of not being able to go out there, not being able to swing and run and do such things but he's continued to post up and he's continued to go out there and play. I don't know what percentage he's at but it's not a high percentage of what he can normally do physically."
It's been well publicized that Buxton has been playing through a knee issue most of the season after making a catch against the center-field wall at Target Field in April. On Aug. 2 the Twins announced that he was dealing with "more discomfort" in the knee, but the hip issue is news to the outside world.
"He couldn't get through what happened out there. We call it hip soreness. I don't know what it is. He's going to have an MRI, he's doing it right now," Baldelli said in his postgame interview.
Buxton has been fighting the hip issue for "a good part of the season," per Baldelli.
"This is stuff he deals with all the time. The guy is a warrior. The guy goes out there and plays through things that are unimaginable for many, both other players and people watching," Baldelli continued. "What he's done through this point in the year is pretty amazing with the physical difficulties that he's had."
Baldelli said Buxton will likely miss Tuesday's game and that it "could be more than a day-to-day issue."
"Most of what he's dealt with we haven't talked about. All that said, we're going to wait until we find out more before I can say any more," Baldelli said.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.