CLEVELAND – Byron Buxton rolled his suitcase to the clubhouse door Saturday, put his equipment bag on top of it, then worked his way around the room, hugging and shaking hands. The Twins outfielder is headed to the minor leagues, and it's not certain when he'll be back.
About an hour after one last workout on the field and batting practice in front of manager Paul Molitor, Buxton left to fly to Minneapolis. He will report to Class AAA Rochester on Monday and begin a rehab assignment with the Red Wings on Tuesday.
"Good news for us," Molitor said of Buxton's recovery from a fractured big toe, an injury that has progressed from lingering pain to occasional soreness.
But it's not just Buxton's health that has Molitor optimistic. The Twins have used this road trip to make some changes to Buxton's swing, the manager said.
"We've done a little bit of tweaking," Molitor said. "The past three to five days, that seemed to be taking fairly well. And hopefully the combination of him feeling better and having a good mind-set about where his swing is will produce some good results."
The changes might be noticeable, Molitor said.
"Working on just making sure [he has better] balance on his 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."
Buxton has 28 strikeouts and only 14 hits in his 90 at-bats this season, a .156 batting average, so the Twins will judge his rehab assignment — and decide when to bring him back to the majors — based on his hitting as much as his recovery from the toe injury.