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TWINS: Electronic device expedites Byron Buxton's recovery from hand injury

DETROIT-Wherever he goes these days, Byron Buxton has a new constant companion: A rectangular blue box called the True Wave that helps speed his recovery from a bone contusion in his left hand."That's my best friend," Buxton said Saturday afterno...

Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) is congratulated by teammates after scoring in the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Friday, Sept. 22, in Detroit. Rick Osentoski / USA TODAY Sports
Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) is congratulated by teammates after scoring in the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Friday, Sept. 22, in Detroit. Rick Osentoski / USA TODAY Sports

DETROIT-Wherever he goes these days, Byron Buxton has a new constant companion: A rectangular blue box called the True Wave that helps speed his recovery from a bone contusion in his left hand.

"That's my best friend," Buxton said Saturday afternoon, Sept. 23, as he sat at his Comerica Park locker.

In between baseball activities at the park and during his down time at the hotel or while flying from city to city, Buxton has found relief in hooking up a small, oval-shaped electrode patch to the back of his hand and letting the electronic stimulator work its magic.

"You don't feel anything" while it's on, Buxton said, but that changes once he removes the patch and holds his hand down by his side.

"I feel a rush of blood," Buxton said. "It's like a tingling feeling but it feels good."

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Since suffering the injury on an awkward swing on Wednesday, Aug. 30, Buxton has made 20 starts and hit .293 with a .361 on-base percentage in 83 trips. However, he also has 24 strikeouts against just five unintentional walks in that span.

Seven of those strikeouts came during an 0-for-10 showing this week in his first career series at Yankee Stadium. Facing Yankees reliever David Robertson in Monday night's sixth inning, he fouled off a pitch and immediately felt a stinging sensation shoot through his injured hand.

"I think I got a backup slider or backup cutter and it was inside," Buxton said. "I was trying to keep my hands inside and fouled it off. As I was swinging, I was like, 'I feel good, I feel good.' Then I got to that one point and I was like, 'Ouch!' Right after that, I was like, 'Wow, that didn't feel good!' "

Buxton walked around for 10 seconds or so, let his hand "calm back down" and stepped back into the box to complete his strikeout. After that Sept. 18 game, he was using the True Wave when he asked the Twins' medical staff for a favor.

"I was like, 'All right, I've got to do something,' " he said. "I asked them, 'Can I take this machine home?' They said, 'Yeah, you can take it home.' And I haven't taken it back to them since."

Buxton has been using the stim machine now for about 10 days, but since the first night at Yankee Stadium he's been using it for up to 45 minutes at a time in two different periods "right before I actually fall asleep." He uses it in the morning when he wakes up as well, then more at the ballpark, before and after games.

"I do a little laser, and that usually calms it down and keeps (the pain) manageable," he said. "Whenever I put it back on, it gives my hand a little more comfort. It's been feeling a whole lot better the more that I do it."

Through the first two games of this series against the Tigers, Buxton was 4 for 8 with two doubles, four runs batted in and three runs scored.

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New approach to international scouting

The decision to part ways with longtime Twins international scouting coordinator Howard Norsetter had as much to do with a changing bonus structure for international talent than any other factor.

Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, major league organizations will pursue amateur players and professionals under the age of 25 with the same modest bonus pools. That means, for instance, Japanese two-way sensation Shohei Otani, expected to sign with a big-league team this winter, will count against the same 2017-18 bonus pool as 16-year-olds from Latin America.

The Twins, who traded for an extra $500,000 in bonus-pool money from the Washington Nationals, have $5.75 million to spend in that realm during this period.

"Historically you did have markets all over the place where you could run independently," Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said. "The way the bonus structures worked, there was no cap, there were no limitations. Now we have it all under one umbrella. Where we devote our time, our resources and otherwise, we've revisited that to some degree."

Under this "restructuring," Falvey said the Twins would likely "re-appropriate some resources" toward Latin American countries. Fred Guerrero, 37, has served as the club's Latin American scouting coordinator for the past several years and could take on a larger role under this new structure.

"I know that most teams now have one person managing the pool because it all comes out of the same pot," Falvey said. "In our minds we wanted to make sure we streamlined that moving forward."

Briefly

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Falvey said the Twins have advance scouts on site for all potential American League postseason opponents but will wait to scout National League teams until the postseason begins, should they secure the final AL wild-card spot. They also could have minor-league managers and special assistants Torii Hunter, LaTroy Hawkins and Michael Cuddyer conduct video scouting of potential postseason opponents.

The Cleveland Indians juggled their rotation for next week's series against the Twins at Progressive Field. Right-handers Josh Tomlin and Danny Salazar will start on Tuesday and Wednesday with Thursday's starter now likely to come from either Trevor Bauer or Carlos Carrasco. Mike Clevinger is heading to the bullpen.

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