ANAHEIM -- Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton flashed his high-school pitching skills in Tuesday's 5-4 loss to the Angels, rifling a throw from center field to nail center fielder Mike Trout at the plate in the first inning.
Buxton took Albert Pujols' RBI ground single up the middle and came up firing, throwing the ball 99.4 mph, according to Statcast™. The throw was just in time to catcher Juan Centeno, who put the tag on Trout to keep the game at 1-0.
"Scouting reports will tell you that [Buxton]'s got a high-end Major League throwing arm," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "It's near the top shelf. You're not going to see Mike Trout get thrown out too often on a base hit up the middle, even though the ball was scorched."
It was the first time Trout has been thrown out on the basepaths this season. Trout currently ranks 18th in the Majors in the Ultimate Base Running, or UBR, metric according to FanGraphs.
This is not the first time Buxton has flashed his arm in center field, as Statcast™ had him throwing 98 mph to nail White Sox outfielder Melky Cabrera last June.