ARLINGTON, Texas — He can admit it now, Paul Molitor said on Saturday: He thought Byron Buxton might have suffered a serious injury on Friday.
"The way he reacted, just watching it up close, it seemed like it had potential to be worse than just banging his knee," Molitor said, especially when the knee locked up and Buxton couldn't stand on it. "But thankfully, we got good news."
That news was delivered by a magnetic resonance imaging scan that Buxton underwent in the morning. The MRI showed that Buxton's collision with the center field fence did no damage to the ligaments in his right knee, that everything is structurally intact, and that a bone bruise is the extent of his injury. Shortly after finding out he won't need any surgery, he won't even need to go on the disabled list, Buxton rode a stationary bike for 35 minutes, took some swings in the batting cage and then ran about a dozen sprints in the outfield, under the watch of athletic trainer Dave Pruemer.
"I feel good. Good enough to be available the rest of the weekend," Buxton said.
That will be up to Molitor, who kept the rookie outfielder on the bench Saturday out of caution. But the manager said he might return Buxton to the lineup on Sunday.
"There is some bone bruising, and I don't know if they can grade how deep it goes," Molitor said. "I'm just relieved it's something that maybe is going to be painful, but hopefully allows him to play, at the latest, after the break."
Buxton didn't even show any signs of the limp he had late Friday, after being driven off the field on a grounds-crew cart. He wore a compression sleeve on his knee, and used an electronic muscle stimulator to help with the pain. The biggest help, however, was just hearing a doctor declaring his knee healthy.
"My legs are a big part of what I do, so it's always good to have good news like that," he said. Just don't expect him to shy away from the wall again, even after two collisions in the past week. It's just how he plays, Buxton said.
