Byron Buxton put on disabled list, season in jeopardy

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton was placed on the disabled list at Class AAA Rochester on Wednesday because of a continuing issue with his left wrist — a development that could sideline Buxton for the remainder of the season.

"He's got a strain in that wrist," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "Nothing structural, so we are going to shut him down here and reevaluate in 7-10 days and see where he's at."

If that's the case, then Buxton is in a race against time to return to action in the minors with an eye on playing in the majors in September.

As fast as Buxton is, he might be unable to beat time.

The Red Wings' season ends Sept. 3. Even if Buxton is healed in 10 days, he will likely need a stretch of rehabilitation days before he resumes baseball-related activities. The Twins will have to decide if it is worth having Buxton go through all that work for only 10 games or so.

So it's not out of the question that the Twins could shut Buxton down for the remainder of 2018 if the issue doesn't quickly correct itself.

"We have to see how long it is before he gets an opportunity to see what we can salvage [of his season]," Molitor said.

The 2017 AL Gold Glove winner has also missed time this year because of migraines and a broken left big toe.

Buxton, 24, played in 28 games for the Twins this season and hit .156. In 22 games at Rochester, he was hitting .215.

Logan Forsythe looked as if he could crawl onto one of the sofas in the Twins clubhouse and take a nap, but he was present and ready for action after being part of the deal that sent Brian Dozier to the Dodgers at the Tuesday deadline.

"Red eye, last night," the second baseman said. "I think it was the only flight, or the first flight, that we could get on. I got in at 5 this morning. I got here about 6 and dropped off my bags, and then I got about an hour of sleep and came back over."

He got his chance when he pinch hit for Ehire Adrianza in the eighth inning, with one out and two on against Brad Hand. Forsythe hit a hard grounder on which All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor made a splendid play to his right to rob Forsythe of a hit, then start a double play.

Helping with the transition for Forsythe is that he knows Bobby Wilson, Jake Odorizzi, Logan Morrison and bench coach Derek Shelton from his days with Tampa Bay. The roughest part might be that he dropped from being 10 games over .500 with the Dodgers to being nine games under .500 with the Twins.

"Yeah, it's tough," he said. "When you look at it from a standings perspective, yes, of course you want to be on a first-place team and be competitive and compete and go to the World Series. I mean, we did it last year. We went to Game 7 last year, but sometimes it might be better if you get to another club and kind of have a fresh start.

"It's never really in the player's control of where you go or how you're utilized on the team, so I just take it with a grain of salt and thank those guys for getting me over there in the first place and getting me an opportunity. I enjoyed my time over there, but I think it was time for me to start anew."