MILWAUKEE (AP) — Minnesota Twins slugger Miguel Sanó has been activated from the 60-day injured list after missing nearly three months with torn meniscus in his left knee.
The Twins also put All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton back in the lineup for Tuesday night’s game with the Milwaukee Brewers. After homering in the American League’s 3-2 All-Star Game victory, Buxton had sat out a two-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers while resting a right knee that received a platelet-rich plasma injection.
While Sanó and Buxton returned to action Tuesday, outfielder Max Kepler was out of the lineup with a mildly displaced fracture of his little toe. The Twins described Kepler’s status as day to day.
Sanó hurt his knee April 26 while celebrating the Twins’ 5-4 victory over the Tigers in a game that was decided on the final play. He played four days later but left the game early with knee pain and later underwent surgery.
“I feel really good, ready to go,” Sanó said.
Buxton said he started feeling better over the weekend after getting his injection on Wednesday.
“I don’t feel no pain right now,” Buxton said. “I’ve been resting. Let’s see where it goes from there.”
Sanó was batting just .093 with one homer and three RBI in 17 games at the time he went on the injured list.
But the veteran first baseman has provided plenty of punch in the past. The 2017 All-Star hit .223 with 30 homers and 75 RBIs in 135 games last season. He went deep 13 times over 53 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and had a career-high 34 homers in 2019.
The 29-year-old hit .333 with five homers and 11 RBIs, a .422 on-base percentage and a 1.217 OPS in a 12-game rehabilitation assignment with the FCL (Florida Complex League) Twins and Triple-A St. Paul.
“He’s a guy that can impact the baseball and impact a team,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We’ve seen him do it many times over. It seems like he’s in a good spot. Physically he’s swinging the bat pretty good.”
Plenty of Twins have stepped up in Sanó’s absence. All-Star Luis Arraez leads the majors with a .341 batting average while playing both first base and second base. Jose Miranda and Alex Kiriloff also have gotten plenty of starts at first.
Sanó was starting at first base and batting ninth Tuesday against left-hander Ethan Small while Miranda was at designated hitter and Kiriloff was playing right field.
“He’ll be playing,” Baldelli said of Sanó. “It might not be every day. It might not be what he’s done before. But I talked to him about it. He’ll be ready to go, regardless of what’s to come. He’s going to play.”
Sanó said he’s ready for whatever role he gets.
“I’m only looking for a ring like everybody’s looking for,” Sanó said. ” want to see our team win the World Series. It doesn’t matter if I play or not play.”
In other moves, the Twins optioned outfielder Gilberto Celestino to Triple-A St. Paul and transferred left-handed pitcher Danny Coulombe to the 60-day injured list.
Coulombe originally went on the injured list May 28 with a left hip impingement.
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