DYERSVILLE, Iowa — His return didn’t occur as soon as he preferred, but at least Byron Buxton is feeling comfortable.
“The biggest thing is I’m not being cautious,” he said.
When the Minnesota Twins emerged from the cornfield for Thursday night’s Field of Dreams contest, they did so alongside their star center fielder. Buxton rejoined the Twins after missing 14 games with a right hip impingement, an injury that’s bugged him repeatedly since mid-May.
The three-time All-Star doubled in four at-bats, but the Twins were drubbed 7-1 by the Philadelphia Phillies. Buxton, who’s appeared in 83 of the Twins’ 123 games, originally aimed to return last Friday in Milwaukee.
“The body just didn’t allow me,” Buxton said.
But when the team was in Milwaukee, Buxton’s rehab efforts began to intensify. On Monday, Buxton worked out on the field for the first time since he’d gone on the 10-day injured list on July 29.
Twins manager Derek Shelton liked what he’d heard and seen from Buxton and promised the outfielder wouldn’t return simply to be the team’s designated hitter.
Because Thursday was a showcase, the Twins were allowed to add Buxton to the roster as the 27th man without making a subsequent move. They also targeted that day because both teams are off Friday, with the series resuming on Saturday.
Though he didn’t want to make too much of Thursday’s festivities, Buxton acknowledged enjoying the event. Like just about everyone else, Buxton loved when both teams were joined on the field during pregame ceremonies by 26 baseball Hall of Famers. Buxton specifically sought out Chicago Cubs pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, who was one of his father’s favorite players.
“It was a big event,” Buxton said. “Didn’t treat it as no different game. End of the day, you want to go out there and win, do your job. But definitely was fun. It’s my first time here. Being able to see what the movie was like was a little surreal.”
It was a big moment for Buxton when he doubled with two outs in the fifth inning as the speedster had a chance to show off his wheels.
“I’m just going out and playing the game like I normally play,” Buxton said. “Just being smart.”
Here’s more news and notes from the Twins clubhouse at Thursday’s Field of Dreams contest.
• Luke Keaschall doubled, homered and walked in four trips to the plate on Thursday, providing the Twins with their only run. But the focus of Keaschall’s game will be on the play he didn’t make on Kyle Schwarber’s second home run, a ball that bounced off his glove as he leapt and attempted to steal the round-tripper at the fence.
“I think I should’ve caught it,” Keaschall said. “But with a lot of games (left), I try not dwell on it too much.”
An infielder by trade, Keaschall is adapting to life in the outfield. Between right field, where he started Thursday, and center, Keaschall’s made 39 appearances this season. Previously, he made 20 during his minor-league career and 21 more in the Cape Cod League.
He’s a novice.
But Keaschall sees himself as a ballplayer who will go anywhere his team asks. Even though he traveled a long way to track Schwarber’s high drive in difficult conditions, Keaschall didn’t make excuses.
“In a perfect world, I think I should catch it,” Keaschall said. “I didn’t. …it just kept going and it had so much spin, I felt like it was coming backward the last second. At the end of the day, it’s one that I think I should catch. I wish I did. I could’ve picked Taj (Bradley) up. … It’s a whole different ballgame if I catch that ball.”
It’s also a different ballgame if the Twins could have generated any offense and taken advantage of Keaschall continuing to be an offensive threat. Since May 2, Keaschall is batting .292/.403/.420 with 20 extra base-hits, including six homers, in 82 games.
• He couldn’t be there, but Tommy Nance made sure his father’s presence was felt at the Field of Dreams game. Fifteen months after his dad, Mark, passed away following an 11-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Nance took the mound and drew his father’s initials in the dirt as he’s done every time he’s pitched since.
“’Field of Dreams’ being one of our favorite movies together, it was special to be here and get in the game,” Nance said. “Every time that scene comes up, ‘Hey Dad, do you want to have a catch?’, that hits home for me. …I got to put his initials on this mound here. That was cool.”
Acquired from Toronto last month, Nance said he’s been taking his father to the mound with him often over the last year.
“If an inning’s getting tough, or it’s a big situation, (I’m) having little conversations with him on the mound,” Nance said. “That started last year in Toronto and it helped me big time when I got back up to the big leagues halfway through the year.”
• When the game ended, Kody Clemens returned to the field to have a catch with his father, seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens. The elder Clemens announced the plan during the Netflix broadcast and the two carried it out even though a number of fans were on the field.
Roger Clemens wore what was identified as a 1936 Boston Red Sox jersey he received during an old-timers game at Fenway Park.
“It was all his idea,” Kody Clemens said. “He wanted to emulate the movie scene with the dad and Kevin Costner. I was all for it. It was hilarious. There were a ton of fans out there walking around and then we just walked right through them and started filming and everyone was like ‘What’s happening?’ But no, it was great.”
• Following the game, the Twins needed to immediately cut the team’s roster down to 26 players. To do so, the Twins designated catcher Alex Jackson for assignment.
Jackson batted .303/..333/.409 with a homer and five RBIs in 69 plate appearances for the Twins. He stepped in nicely when Ryan Jeffers missed seven weeks with a broken hamate bone but has appeared in only eight of 29 games since then.
“Extremely difficult,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said before the game of the team’s impending decision. “Just because of the fact we’ve used our full roster and everybody is really important to us, it is a challenging decision.”
• Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll also announced the club signed pitcher Germán Márquez to a minor-league deal. Márquez was 4-2 with a 5.36 ERA in 13 games for San Diego this season.
Márquez, who was DFA’d by the Padres last week, will pitch at Triple-A St. Paul this weekend, Zoll said.
