Byron Buxton feels fine physically after returning from the injured list, missing 11 games after he took a pitch to the ribs, even if the results don't match up.
He remains hitless in his first 16 at-bats since he was activated from the IL, with 10 strikeouts and one walk. He entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning Sunday in a 6-4 loss to the Tigers and struck out looking with the bases loaded.
"I still feel great. It just ain't going the way I want it to, you know?" Buxton said. "Just probably doing a little more guessing and not trusting what I'm doing right now. But if you don't feel like your swing is there, that's what you tend to do. I've got a good idea now where I want to be — and it better be good."
Buxton's issue since returning from the IL is his timing. He said he worked on his swing for about three or four days before he was activated, which included hitting off a tee and off a pitching machine, but he didn't want to be on a rehab assignment.
"I never think rehab assignment," he said. "I feel every time I go on rehab, something happens."
It's been a rough season for Buxton even before the rib injury. He has a .202 batting average and a .715 OPS in 229 plate appearances, both his lowest marks in a season since 2018.
The idea of keeping him as a designated hitter has mostly served its purpose by keeping him in the lineup, but the Twins need more from one of their top-of-the-order hitters.
"Even when he's going well, he takes probably the fewest swings of anyone in the game to prepare for a given game," said manager Rocco Baldelli, noting Buxton's physical limitations. "The one challenge in the middle of all of it is when things aren't going the way he wants, how do you figure it out if you can't go out there and take the swings that most guys would need to figure it out?"
