\n<\/p>\n
With both of those items checked off, the Twins All-Star is excited about his upcoming chance to play for Team USA. Buxton flew Sunday to join Team USA in Houston, an absence that could keep him away from Twins camp until March 18, depending upon how far the team advances.<\/p>\n
In order to prepare for the WBC, Buxton played in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. Buxton also appeared in games on three of his final four days in camp and accrued 15 plate appearances as part of a plan he, Twins manager Derek Shelton and Twins broadcast analyst Justin Morneau devised. Buxton and Shelton relied on the advice of Morneau, who played in the WBC tournament four times for Team Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tone setting, I think we\u2019ve done that,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cThere\u2019s a pretty good feel in our clubhouse. (Buxton) did a good job preparing. We tried to amp up his at-bats and back-to-backs. I think he\u2019s ready. It\u2019ll be exciting to watch him play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buxton again praised Shelton for helping him navigate the early schedule. He also clearly understands Shelton wanted him to play a bigger role as a leader and made sure to emphasize important messaging before leaving camp. Though Buxton isn\u2019t the most vocal of leaders, he\u2019s clearly grown more comfortable with it later in his career.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The) only thing I said is believe in yourself,\u201d Buxton said. \u201cIf you want to throw a curveball, throw, believe, believe in the curveball. Hit your spot. Throw it with conviction. Don\u2019t sugarcoat for the most part. Come out and challenge yourself. Whatever you\u2019re doing, whether you\u2019re on the mound, whether you\u2019re in the box, believe in what you\u2019re doing. Don\u2019t be afraid to strike out. Don\u2019t be afraid to give up a homer. Trust the person. \u2026 Be more aggressive. Don\u2019t take the passive side out. We got to start being on the fight side a little bit more and attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buxton went 3 for 13 with two doubles, two walks and one stolen base.<\/p>\n
Joe Ryan won\u2019t pitch for Team USA in pool play, but he is upbeat about the possibility of starting for his country in the later round of the WBC.<\/p>\n
Ryan emerged feeling good after a 30-pitch bullpen session Saturday and is scheduled to participate in a live batting practice session this week. If all goes well, Ryan, who was scratched from a start last month with lower back stiffness and hasn\u2019t yet pitched in a game, would then make a start for the Twins.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis \u2019pen went well,\u201d Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see where things are at from there. \u2026 We think this is smartest and best for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan, who pitched for Team USA in the 2021 Summer Olympics, has a good sense of where he stands and wouldn\u2019t be surprised if he pitches in a later game. He highlighted the way Zoll, Shelton and Team USA manager Mark DeRosa are working together to determine when he might be needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe communication \u2026 has just been super helpful in easing (me) mentally,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cI feel really good about it. I think DeRo feels really good about it. JZ feels good about it. I don\u2019t want to speak for them necessarily, I guess, but it seems like from the communication we\u2019ve had, everyone\u2019s in a good spot. We\u2019ll progress and try to reach those goals. But yeah, I\u2019m excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bailey Ober\u2019s next outing will occur under the lights when the Twins host the Atlanta Braves on Friday night. After briefly pushing back his first game to work on mechanics in a recent bullpen, Ober is pleased with how he\u2019s throwing the ball.<\/p>\n
Ober still got hit in a live batting practice Sunday, with Matt Wallner launching a solo homer off him. But the shapes of Ober\u2019s pitches were good, and his fastball looked lively.<\/p>\n
Ober faced Wallner, Royce Lewis and Ryan Jeffers, among others, in a two-inning outing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a few guys say, \u2018Hey, this stuff looks sharp,\u2019\u201d Ober said. \u201cEverything\u2019s moving really sharp and late. So that\u2019s like a positive. It doesn\u2019t really matter what the velo is at that point, because if it\u2019s happened so late, they can\u2019t diagnose it until then. I felt really healthy and felt really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twins prospect Walker Jenkins will miss time after he was diagnosed with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain on Sunday, the team said. Jenkins suffered the injury running out a double play ball in Saturday\u2019s game. After reporting soreness on Sunday morning, Jenkins underwent an MRI.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Mick Abel generated 10 swings and misses, mostly via his four-seamer, after working to spot his offspeed pitches early in the count and getting hitters to expand their zone during Sunday\u2019s game against Atlanta. Abel struck out six in three scoreless innings and hit 99 mph on the radar gun.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s (one) of the goals that we\u2019ve set \u2026 landing the spin early, and the offspeed stuff early, to get them to expand more,\u201d Abel said. \u201c(It) tells me stuff\u2019s pretty good. I thought I was setting up pitches pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Taj Bradley\u2019s line Saturday wasn\u2019t representative of how he pitched. His defense struggled behind him twice, which led to runs. Bradley hit 99 mph on the radar gun, but also allowed five earned runs in a loss to the Boston Red Sox.<\/p>\n
Afterward, the pitcher was excited with the progress of his cut-fastball more than his velocity, saying \u201c99 might look like 95 now.\u201d Bradley got five swings and misses with his cutter out of 20 pitches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose pitches like that, when it\u2019s a hitter\u2019s count, that\u2019s a pitch you want a strike,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cI feel like that\u2019s something I\u2019m working for. All in all, stuff looked good. Just a little bit more fine-tuning with the repertoire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Two of the team\u2019s top 30 prospects are out of action in minor-league camp, Zoll said. Enrique Jimenez, who was acquired in the Chris Paddack trade, is out 3-4 weeks with a fractured right ring finger. Matt Barr, whom the Twins drafted in the fifth round, won\u2019t be ready for Opening Day as he has a stress fracture in his right ulna.\n<\/p><\/div>\n
FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 Byron Buxton left camp Sunday feeling physically prepared for the World Baseball Classic and as if the Minnesota Twins clubhouse he\u2019s leaving behind heard his message. With both of those items checked off, the Twins All-Star is excited about his upcoming chance to play for Team USA. Buxton flew Sunday to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ready-to-begin-WBC-play-Byron-Buxton-says-Twins-clubhouse.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22513,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22511\/revisions\/22513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"