Twins' Byron Buxton has mild hip strain; Trevor Larnach on injured list

Byron Buxton hates needles. But he loves playing baseball more.

So the Twins center fielder, who aggravated his strained right hip Saturday night, laid on a table and allowed an acupuncturist to ply him with the medical needles a day later.

"First time doing it. … But you've got to do stuff you don't like to get better sometimes," Buxton said. "Dry needling, acupuncture, just about everything you can name, I tried today."

Treatments aside, the Twins believe Buxton won't require a trip to the injured list.

"That's huge, absolutely. Everybody is pretty optimistic," said Twins bench coach Jayce Tingler, who said Buxton could return as soon as Tuesday when the Astros arrive at Target Field. "Seeing the smile on Buck's face this morning gives you a very good feeling."

That doesn't mean their outfield is intact, however. Trevor Larnach was placed on the injured list because of a strained right groin suffered while throwing out Stephen Piscotty — who, ironically, went on Oakland's injured list himself on Sunday — from left field during Friday's game. Larnach was scratched from the lineup Saturday night, and the injury didn't improve a day later.

"It didn't affect his hitting, but it affected his running, and certainly going left to right, changing direction," Tingler said. "Throughout the night, it started to tighten up. [Saturday] morning, it felt a little bit worse."

That injury is also considered minor, but with Buxton and Carlos Correa already sidelined but not on the injured list, the team decided to make a move. Catcher Jose Godoy was called up from Class AAA St. Paul and was on the Twins' bench for Sunday's game.

Correa might not escape the injured list after all. The shortstop's great news on Friday, that his right middle finger was bruised but not broken by a Bryan Baker pitch, has been tempered by the fact that he was unable to grip a bat three days later.

"I haven't swung the bat yet. I haven't even thrown, I haven't got any ground balls. I thought it would heal faster, but it's not quite there yet," Correa said Sunday after canceling his planned session of hitting in the batting cage. "It's still sore. When I try to grip the bat, it still hurts. I'm no help to the team if I'm going out there playing hurt."

He had hoped to play against his former team when the Astros arrive this week, "but Tuesday is not a realistic day to come back," he said.

Still, he will come to Target Field during Monday's off day to test it again. "I do want to play, but I've got to be smart about it," he said. "I dodged a bullet. Instead of eight to 10 weeks, maybe it'll be six, seven days, who knows? I'll take that over 10 weeks all day long."

Complicating the Twins' decision is that, with Godoy back on the team, they have no other position players on the 40-man roster who are not already in the majors or on the injured list.

Luis Arraez, Dylan Bundy and manager Rocco Baldelli "are all feeling better" after contracting COVID, Tingler said, and hoped to fly back to the Twin Cities from Baltimore on Sunday or Monday.

Presumably, that means each has tested negative for the virus and has become asymptomatic. A second negative test and clearance from MLB could allow the players to be activated before the expiration of a 10-day quarantine.

Gilberto Celestino is on an 11-for-25 hot streak that has lifted his average from .083 on April 26 to .324 today.

"The biggest difference is, pitchers in the minor leagues don't locate pitches like big-leaguers do," the outfielder said. "My preparation is to [better] pick and choose the pitches I want to hit. … At this level, a lot of it is mental."