Minnesota Twins star Byron Buxton collided with a Chicago White Sox player on Wednesday afternoon, but did the umpire cause the incident?
It’s impossible to pass blame to any one person in what looked to be a freak incident altogether.
Minnesota Twins star Byron Buxton has struggled to stay healthy for quite some time now. When he’s on the field, Buxton is one of the best players in baseball. The aforementioned issue is that he’s not on the field all that often.
Buxton collided with Lenyn Sosa of the Chicago White Sox, and removed from the game. It was a tough day for the Twins in the injury department, as Kyle Farmer was hit in the face with a four-seam fastball by Lucas Giolito. Farmer may have to undergo surgery. Buxton, it appears, should be fine long-term.
Twins: Who is to blame for Byron Buxton’s injury?
Second-base umpire Mike Muchlinski created a difficult path for Buxton on this play, which is why it looks abnormal to begin with. Buxton had to go out of his way to avoid all parties, and he eventually came into contact with Sosa rather than Muchlinski.
There’s plenty of traffic on the basepaths, and Buxton’s awareness got the best of him here. Thankfully, it looks as though all parties involved will be okay. Buxton was able to walk off the field on his own.
Farmer wasn’t nearly as lucky. Per manager Rocco Baldelli, Farmer did avoid a broken jaw, but there’s a chance he’ll need some sort of dental procedure or facial realignment, as the ball made contact with his jawline.
It’s unclear who will take on Farmer’s role on the roster, but as Dan Hayes points out, Kyle Garlick is likely to be added to the 40-man roster when Farmer is placed on the injured list.