Max Kepler leaves game after getting hit by pitch; Miguel Sano decision delayed

DETROIT – Detroit starter Rony Garcia pelted three Twins players with pitches in his short outing Sunday, and the last one might have inflicted some lasting damage.

Max Kepler's right foot took the brunt of an 80-mile-per-hour pitch, with the outfielder wincing as he hopped around after impact. He walked to first base but met manager Rocco Baldelli and head athletic trainer Michael Salazar there. Kepler stayed in for a couple pitches of Alex Kirilloff's next at-bat but had trouble making some lateral hops to return to the bag, and Gilberto Celestino came in to pinch run for him.

The Twins announced it as a right fifth toe contusion, though Baldelli said it's more the general area on the outside of the foot toward the pinkie toe.

"We did some X-rays. They were inconclusive. We really couldn't tell. We tried a bunch of angles," Baldelli said. "He's going to have some more imaging done [Monday] to rule anything out."

Baldelli added that the right fielder is sore but able to walk on his own. Kepler did have a boot on his right foot as he left the clubhouse for the team bus after Sunday's game, though.

Byron Buxton received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection last week in his right knee but has not been available to comment on the procedure since Baldelli announced it ahead of Saturday's game. A team spokesman said Buxton will share his side of the experience once he is back in the lineup, which is likely Tuesday at Milwaukee, but Salazar offered some more information on the relatively new treatment.

The procedure draws, filters and concentrates a person's own blood before re-injecting it into the injured area, which is supposed to promote healing.

Unlike a cortisone shot — which is just to help control pain — this could actually help mend the injury, as long as Buxton doesn't aggravate it too much for a couple of days after the injection. But that doesn't mean this is a cure for his ongoing patellar tendinitis.

"The numbers and research haven't really shown it to be a hundred percent successful, obviously, but for certain body parts — whether you're using it for soft tissue or using it for joints — it's something some people benefit from and others don't," Salazar said. "So to try it as a conservative route, we're hopeful that it does what it's supposed to do."

At this point, the Twins are just trying to help Buxton play the rest of the season without a stint on the injured list, even if he misses a few games here and there to rest his knee. There's potential for more serious intervention — such as surgery — in the offseason. But even that isn't a surefire fix.

"It's just like any body part, like most of our players have, they have some degenerative changes," Salazar said. "And it's just a matter of whether they act up or not based on certain conditions, changes, injuries."

While Miguel Sano's rehab stint officially ended after Saturday evening's Saints game, the Twins have delayed sharing what is next for the first baseman until the last possible moment. They have two days to make a call, and with a day off Monday, the roster move will wait until ahead of Tuesday's game.

"Out of potential respect for the people that are actually active and playing out there right now," Baldelli said, "I think talking about what we're going to potentially do in a couple of days wouldn't be the right way to go about it."

Sano, now recovered from the May surgery to repair his torn left meniscus, hit .348 in seven games in Class AAA. His average was below .100 with the Twins before his injury.

Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers had surgery Wednesday to repair a small fracture in the thumb joint of his right hand, and "the outcome was better than anticipated," Salazar said. Jeffers has a couple screws in that area now and has not been with the Twins on the road trip. He will likely start rehabbing next week.

Jeffers will be out six to eight weeks and will try to pick up where he left off amid a playoff push. Jeffers was hitting the best he had all year in July, tallying a .320 batting average in seven July appearances. Without him in the lineup, the Twins have leaned heavily on Gary Sanchez, who previously split time with Jeffers behind the plate. Caleb Hamilton is on the bench as a backup catcher if needed.