Good news for the Twins as they are close to getting Byron Buxton back from a toe injury that’s limited his ability to perform, much less play for about half of the season.
Buxton is set to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday, marking his first game action since the hairline fracture in his big toe proved too painful to play with in late May, forcing the Twins to place their Gold Glove center fielder on the disabled list for a second time this season.
Migraines and the toe injury caused Buxton to missed 20 consecutive games April 18 through May 8, and the setback on May 30 has kept him out of the past 16 games.
But his trip to Triple-A will have more to do with fixing his swing than proving he can play pain-free. Buxton is hitting just .156 with no homers and four doubles in 28 games this season, and manager Paul Molitor wants to see Buxton show better form in the batter’s box.
“Hopefully the combination of him feeling better and having a good mindset about where his swing is at will produce some good results down there,” Molitor said Saturday, according to the Twins.
“We’re working on just making sure there’s balance on the lower half. He’s been collapsing a little bit too much. We’re going to try to use his posture to improve his strength as well as his [pitch] recognition. Not that you have video of BP today, but hopefully when we come back and you see some of the changes, it’s more conditioned to consistency.”
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Molitor said there’s no timetable for Buxton to rejoin them in the big leagues, suggesting that it might be five or 10 games before he’s brought back up.
Meanwhile, the Twins demoted a struggling Miguel Sano back to the low minors with hopes that he’ll adjust and return to All-Star form yet this season.
Sano was optioned to Class A Fort Myers on Thursday but has yet to play in a game with the Miracle.
