Minnesota Twins slugger Byron Buxton Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

Umpire has bizarre reaction to apparent Byron Buxton injury

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 5/1/24

An MLB umpire is being criticized for his response to an apparent injury to Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton on Wednesday.

Buxton appeared to suffer some sort of muscle injury while running to second base during Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. He left the field slowly, which apparently prompted first base umpire Rob Drake to yell, “Let’s go,” in an effort to get Buxton to move a bit faster.

Umpire Rob Drake was yelling at an injured Byron Buxton to get off the field pic.twitter.com/uokCWSV1OO
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) May 1, 2024

Drake can clearly be heard yelling, “Let’s go,” on the broadcast as Buxton is slowly walking toward the dugout. The same voice also said something else that implied that Buxton was holding up the game, though the comments ended when trainers entered the field of play to examine the outfielder.

Perhaps Drake was somehow unaware that Buxton had pulled up lame while running the bases, but that would be pretty tough to believe. The whole event makes Drake look pretty unprofessional, since Buxton was still doing his best to get off the field.

It is unclear if MLB will do anything about Drake, but the league will not love another high-profile episode that reflects poorly on its umpires.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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