Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton Expected to Platoon on IL

[RandBalls Stu]

‘You know as well as I do that once Lewis gets the green light to return, a Cybertruck door will fly off and hit Buxton in the ribs.’

Image courtesy of Unsplash/smallbox

The Minnesota Twins’ relatively healthy spring training was marred earlier this week when infielder Royce Lewis strained a hamstring, knocking him out of the season opener (and likely a few more weeks beyond that). While it’s far from good news, team leaders say they are ready.

“As a team that has been cursed by an absent, laughing god, you have to be able to pivot,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “Arguably our two best position players are constantly hurt due to the rigors of the game, the frailty of the human body, and horrible luck. And since we already platoon some other players to maximize favorable matchups, we’re moving forward with an IL platoon for [Lewis and center fielder Byron Buxton].”

The manager confirmed earlier media reports that Lewis and his fellow frequent injury-haver would alternate time spent on the team’s injured list. Once Lewis is ready to return, Buxton will take his place with an as-yet-unspecified injury.

“You know as well as I do that once Lewis gets the green light to return, a Cybertruck door will fly off and hit Buxton in the ribs,” said Baldelli. “We’re just getting it on the schedule and eliminating the middleman.”

Baldelli laughed when asked what he’d do if both players were healthy at the same time.

“What would I do if Superman was real,” he responded. “What would I do if pizza didn’t have calories? What would I do if (The Athletic’s Dan) Hayes would just admit that Brock Purdy will never lead a team to a Super Bowl win? We’re dealing with possibilities so far from our lived experience that I reject the premise.”

Minnesota opens the season against former Twin Sonny Gray and the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, March 27th.

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[LambchoP]

This may be satire, but unfortunately I think it's a very strong possibility that Lewis Buxton and Correa all play musical chairs with the IL throughout the year. This will be nothing new, the season this year and every year will be determined by our ability to weather all of their IL time.

[USAFChief]

I expect Rocco to Pinch-IL Correa in the middle months as well.

[Reptevia]

Stu-I thought you did satire?

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Where's the strategic advantage?

[Parfigliano]

Might need to make room for Lee in that platoon system

[mikelink45]

You missed the announcement we no longer have a 40 man roster - it is now a 40 man IL and we are hard pressed to get someone to leave so we can put a new name on the list.  Prospects are now listed according to their likelihood to be injured - why bother with all those healthy bodies?

[saviking]

We've come a long way from the Babe Ruth days when they stayed up all night drinking, came around by the 3rd inning, and rubbed dirt on any injury. 

[gil4]

On 3/21/2025 at 4:57 PM, sampleSizeOfOne said:

Where's the strategic advantage?

I just came to see which one was going to not hit lefthanded during the IL stints.

[Aerodeliria]

Fiction is truer than strange.....