MINNEAPOLIS -- It was a bad night all around for the Twins, and their sloppy 9-3 loss to the Nationals was only a small part of that. Star center fielder Byron Buxton was removed from the game in the seventh inning due to what the club called “left side soreness,” and is considered day to day.
No move has been made with Buxton, and it’s possible none will be. He will go for further examination on Sunday morning, and the club expects to have more of a read on his roster status by first pitch of the 1:10 p.m. CT series finale against Washington.
“The update is he has some left-side soreness,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “He was actually what I would say relatively upbeat. I actually talked to him during the game. I popped upstairs to check on him. I talked to [head athletic trainer] Nick Paparesta postgame.
“We're just going to get an image tomorrow morning just to see what we're dealing with. He actually felt it more running than anything else, which was when you have some soreness in your side and you don't feel it as much swinging, and you don't feel it as much moving on the offensive end. You feel it running. It's kind of a unique thing.”
Buxton was 0-for-3 in the game but had hit the ball hard in all three at-bats, and he’s been the Twins’ best offensive player all year. An All-Star for the second time in his career, Buxton has a .282/.343/.561 line with 23 homers and 59 RBIs.
The slugger has a lengthy injury history but has mostly stayed healthy in 2025. He missed time due to a concussion he suffered in a collision with Carlos Correa, and has dealt with minor dings on a couple of occasions, but his 364 plate appearances are already the fourth-highest total of his 11-year Major League career.
While the primary concern is for Buxton himself, the timing is also absolutely awful for Minnesota. With less than a week until the Trade Deadline, the Twins sit on the cusp between trading away veterans and either standing pat or even adding players.
Doing without Buxton for any length of time will put a significant dent in their chances at putting together a hot streak before Thursday’s Deadline that might convince the front office to make moves to bolster the current roster for a run at the postseason.
The Twins are four games below .500 with four games remaining before the Deadline. They trail Boston by five games for the third American League Wild Card spot, with four teams between them and the Red Sox in the standings.
The injury to Buxton comes as their other two star hitters, Royce Lewis and Correa, are heating up. Lewis doubled and singled on Saturday and has seven extra-base hits in his last six games. Correa’s first-inning single gave him 18 hits in his last 16 games, as he’s steadily improved his batting average and on-base percentage throughout July.
But the team’s offense has run through Buxton just about all year, and having to make do without him will be a major challenge.