HOUSTON -- Byron Buxton has played through several injuries this season, but after exiting Monday’s series finale against the Rangers, the Twins placed the All-Star center fielder on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with a low grade right hip strain.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said the news was tough, but with everything Buxton has dealt with this season, there wasn’t much of a decision to make.

“... I think Buck also knows the right thing for him to do is to take a period of time -- hopefully not that long -- but a period of time [to] get himself in a better spot physically," Baldelli said, "so he can come back and do all the things that he’s been doing for us all year long."

Buxton underwent an MRI after being replaced defensively in the top of the seventh inning on Monday with right hip tightness. Baldelli said the MRI showed signals in “some different places,” including the hip. The hope is that Buxton will not miss too much time due to the injury.

“Obviously, his knee has been a fairly consistent issue since April, so I think this period of time will help that also settle down,” Baldelli said. “The hip in general did light up a little bit in different spots, but I think we were able to avoid major injury or something where we are talking about [missing] a month or the rest of the season.

“We’re not talking about that, which is a good thing. He never wants to be off the field, ever. We’ve had many, many conversations about that this year, but luckily, it doesn’t sound like we are going to have to have that discussion about him missing a long period of time.”

When Buxton returns will depend on the medical staff’s opinion as well as Buxton’s, but Baldelli said there is no answer on when he will come off the injured list. 

“There’s a lot of injuries [where] you know exactly when the player is coming off [the IL], but when you’re dealing with muscle-type injuries, and you’re dealing with things like tendinitis-type injuries, swelling, all of these different things that you’re trying to factor in, we’re just going to have to make sense of it,” Baldelli said. “It’s not ... a simple equation, but you’re going to have to look at it all as a whole.”

Baldelli couldn’t specify when the hip began to bother Buxton, but he did acknowledge that the center fielder has been dealing with both his knee and hip for “a while.”

“Sometimes, one is bothering him substantially more than the other, but to try to actually monitor each one and to know where he’s at each and every day, it’s hard to do sometimes,” Baldelli said. “I think he gets tired of talking about it -- even with us. It’s not having to discuss it publicly. I think even just having to discuss it every day and get into detail is hard. I can understand that. That’s not something that is pleasant. He does work on both, though, regularly in the training room.”

Buxton is hitting .224 this season with 28 home runs and 51 RBIs. In corresponding moves, outfielder Alex Kirilloff was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL, and catcher Caleb Hamilton was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul.

Teammate Carlos Correa said the injury is hard for Buxton and the team, but he texted the center fielder and told him this is a time for him to work on himself and recover.

“I know how hard he's working every day to stay on the field, and I know all the work he's been putting in,” Correa said. “It's tough, obviously, but at the same time, my thoughts and prayers are with him and hopefully, he has a speedy recovery and can join us soon.”