Byron Buxton is one of the game's top prospects -- if not the top prospect in baseball -- but he's had a little trouble staying on the field this year. First, Buxton missed a significant chunk of his season to a wrist sprain suffered in spring training, one with recurrences throughout the year. Then, he suffered a concussion in August after colliding with another player. Now, his season in the Arizona Fall League is over before it should be, as Buxton dislocated his middle finger according to the Star Tribune's La Velle E. Neal III.
Top prospect Byron Buxton dislocates finger in AFL
Yet another setback for the promising Twins’ youngster.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Buxton had made the AFL Rising Stars squad -- that's their All-Star Game -- but will not be able to participate now. It's a fitting end to his season given how injuries already ruined everything else, but "fitting" is not necessarily good: he was in the AFL to help catch up on lost time to begin with. Buxton played in just 61 games in 2014, and hit .234/.307/.395 in that time. Considering this is a player whose ceiling has been likened to a Willie Mays' type -- that's best-case scenario, remember; Mike Trout got Mickey Mantle at the same age, you know -- that's a massive disappointment.
He has all winter to get healthy and rested up for a stronger 2015, and he'll still only be 21 years old for it. No prospect can afford the rust that two seasons of injuries provides, though, so the Twins and Buxton both need him to play a full season next year.
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