After being hit by a pitch on Wednesday night at Target Field and leaving the game with a left hand contusion, star center fielder Byron Buxton was not in the starting lineup for the Twins in the series finale against the Chicago Cubs.

Asked for an update on Buxton, manager Rocco Baldelli didn’t seem too concerned, saying, “The update is he’s doing fine.”

Though he didn’t speak to reporters on Thursday morning, Buxton was spotted in the clubhouse pregame, and he appeared to be in good spirits before doing a live television appearance on MLB Network.

“Nothing has really gotten worse,” Baldelli said. “He’s definitely sore and for the same reason that he came out of the game yesterday he’s not going to be starting the game today. Nothing really more to mention besides that. We’re just going to continue to evaluate him and get him treatment and then see how he’s doing later on.”

Will he be back for the Twins this weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates?

“I can’t say that,” Baldelli said. “I wouldn’t speculate. I think he’s going to be fine. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was back out there soon.”

The fact that Buxton initially stayed in the game after being hit by a pitch suggested that it wasn’t a serious injury on the surface.

“It’s all judgement and relying on the trainer and the player to make a decision out there on the field,” Baldelli said. “He was like, ‘Just leave me in and let me run and we can look at it when I get back in the dugout.’”

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