Buxton not in the lineup as Twins open series in Cleveland

The Twins will face the first-place Guardians Friday-Sunday.

Apr 26, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (25) hits an RBI / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Byron Buxton is not in the lineup for Friday's series opener in Cleveland. As of 3 p.m. Friday, Buxton had not been activated from the injured list, though it sounds like he is with the team in Cleveland and could be in the lineup on Saturday.

Byron Buxton is here, with the expectation that he’ll be active tomorrow. Played back-to-back the last two days for St. Paul and traveled early this morning, so he wasn’t going to be active today.

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) May 17, 2024

The 30-year-old center fielder has played the past two nights on a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, going 0-for-6 with three strikeouts an one RBI.

Without Buxton, here's how the Twins will line up against Cleveland right-hander Triston McKenzie.

Player	Position
Eddy Julien	2B
Trevor Larnach	DH
Ryan Jeffers	C
Max Kepler	RF
Carlos Correa	SS
Carlos Santana	1B
Alex Kirilloff	LF
Jose Miranda	3B
Willi Castro	CF

The Twins said Buxton was headed to St. Paul after he missed two weeks with an inflamed right knee. The hope was that he would join the Twins in Cleveland, which could still happen and appears likely to happen in time for Saturday's 5 p.m. start.

McKenzie has a 1.30 ERA over his past five starts and he's been pretty good in his career against the Twins. Three players in the lineup who have some success against him include Correa, who is 5-for-14 with two homers lifetime against him; MIranda (2-for-5 with two doubles); and Kirilloff (3-for-6).

First pitch Friday is at 6:10 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed exclusively on Apple TV+.