Umpire has bizarre reaction to apparent Byron Buxton injury

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.

Closer look at Byron Buxton's possible injury, getting tagged out en route to 2nd. The umpire yelled at Buxton to "get off the field" as he walked off the field with a trainer.#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/E3AWwFC2JO

— Talkin' Twins (@TalkinTwins) 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 look at Buxton.

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.