Minnesota Twins shut down top prospect Byron Buxton for rest of the season
By Mike Marteny
It has been a disappointing season for the consensus number one prospect in all of baseball. The Minnesota Twins have shut down outfielder Byron Buxton for the remainder of the season because of a concussion that he suffered on August 13th after colliding with a teammate in his first game at AA New Britain.
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Buxton missed over two months earlier in the season with a broken wrist.
In 30 games with the High-A Ft. Myers Miracle, Buxton hit .240 with four homers, six stolen bases, and 16 RBI. He flashed the tools that made him the number one overall prospect, but he never really had time to get adjusted.
He was promoted to New Britain on August 13th, and played his only game there that night. He went 0-3 with three strikeouts before exiting the game with the injury.
Since the minor league season is drawing to a close, and Buxton was not going to be called up on September 1st anyway, the Twins have shut him down for the remainder of the season. He was expected to report to Ft. Myers for a rehab assignment, but the Miracle are in the middle of an 11-game road trip, and Buxton is still feeling soreness.
The Twins are just exercising caution with their number one positional prospect. The organization has not ruled out sending him to the Arizona Fall League, but only if the concussion symptoms are gone by then.
You can’t blame the Twins for being cautious. A concussion nearly cost Justin Morneau his career while he was in Minnesota.