The Minnesota Twins have kept All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton out of Thursday's starting lineup due to a bruised left hand.

The stage is set for a fun Friday night at Target Field featuring Ryan vs. fellow All-Star Paul Skenes and a postgame concert.

Twins All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton is, perhaps unsurprisingly, out of the lineup for Thursday afternoon's series finale against the Cubs. Buxton left Wednesday night's game an inning after being hit by a 98 mile-per-hour fastball on the top of his left hand. The good news is he appears to have avoided a significant injury.

Twins outfielder Byron Buxton has a traveling companion for next week’s All-Star Game back in his home state of Georgia: Pitcher and teammate Joe Ryan on Wednesday was named an injury replacement for the American League team.

His second All-Star Game selection will go down as one of his greatest satisfactions in the sport, considering the path he's taken to get here and the fact that the festivities next week will be in his native Georgia.

Buxton led off the bottom of the first inning when he was hit, although the play was initially ruled a foul ball. Minnesota challenged the call and it was overturned after video review showed the ball hitting a pad on the top of Buxton’s hand.

Initial X-rays were negative, but the injury takes place five days before Buxton's scheduled to compete in the Home Run Derby.

When the Twins selected Byron Buxton with the second overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, they envisioned a game-changing athlete: a lightning-fast center fielder who could wreak havoc on the basepaths, chase down fly balls few others could, and slap line drives from foul line to foul line. Power was more of a footnote in the scouting report.