Minnesota Twins Byron Buxton Ready to Roll

The strange year the Byron Buxton endured is behind him and in the books. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has reported that the injury-plagued elite prospect has been cleared to resume baseball activities. He’ll be joining fellow top prospect Miguel Sano on their road back to the majors.

Byron Buxton was ready to explode onto the scene in 2014 for the Minnesota Twins. Rated the No. 1 overall prospect in baseball by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com, there was seemingly no one more suited to take over baseball than Buxton. The 2013 Midwest League Most Valuable Player and Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year was expected to make a short stint in Triple-A and take over centerfield for the Twins early n in 2014.

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Then the freakish streak of injuries started. First came the sprained wrist, which Buxton injured in spring training. The sprain to his left wrist put Buxton on the shelf from March to May. He returned on May 4th only to last five whole games before aggravating the the wrist injury. That would put him on out of commission for nearly two months.

Buxton would return July 6th. He would play for another month, not quite the shell of the reigning Minor League Player of the Year, but without spring training and limited playing time, there was little concern for worry. He would be promoted to Double-A and in his first game with the New Britain Rock Cats, Buxton’s season would come to a frightening end. A vicious outfield collision left Buxton unconscious for ten minutes and his Eastern League debut season would come to an end as he suffered a severe concussion.

"“I couldn’t move. I thought I was paralyzed for a little while, but after about three hours I started feeling my body back so that was always good,” Buxton told the MST."

Then it was off to the Arizona Fall League. Looking to get some licks in after an injury-shortened regular season, Buxton got off to a nice start. 13 games in, however, his bad luck continued as he broke his finger, ending his AFL season. 2014 was an unlucky year for Buxton.

Now that the finger is healed and the cobwebs are cleared from the concussion, Buxton can get back to baseball activities. It couldn’t be any sooner for the Twins.

The 2012 second round pick is a star in the making. His monster 2013 was out of this world: he slashed .334/.424/.520, hitting 12 home runs while driving in 77 and adding 18 triples and 55 stolen bases. His fielding is seemingly flawless as he doesn’t make many errors. He’s ultra-aggressive, as all three injuries he sustained in 2014 were from diving for balls in centerfield. Does he misplay a few balls here and there? Sure, but that is part of the learning curve for a 21-year old center fielder. The Twins are ready for his bat and speed in the outfield.

Aaron Hicks is pegged to be the Opening Day centerfielder and he is a career .201 hitter who has struck out 80 more times than he has walked in just parts of two seasons. Behind him is Jordan Schafer, a journeyman speedster on the base paths, but hasn’t quite figured out hitting at the big league level. Last season Danny Santana took reps in center field, and he is expected to be the teams starting short stop. To say the Twins need Buxton healthy is an understatement.

Buxton appears to be heading to Double-A to start the season. Once he proves he is healthy and has his timing back, expect him to be on the fast track to Minnesota. A successful quick stop in Triple-A could have this season’s AL Rookie of the Year in the bigs by June.

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