If there has been one weakness in Twins star prospect Byron Buxton's game so far as a major leaguer, it has been his hitting. He hit .209 over 129 at-bats in 46 games last season with the Twins. So far in 46 at-bats during spring training, Buxton has hit .238 (11-for-46) with three RBI and seven runs scored.

He can do everything a top-ranked baseball prospect should, except he has not yet proven himself at the plate.

The center fielder is regarded as the No. 2 prospect in baseball, behind infielder Corey Seager of the Dodgers organization, for good reasons. But even Buxton admits hitting at the major league level is his biggest challenge.

"It has [been hard], it takes time to get adjusted," he said. "For some it takes longer than others, and mine has taken a little longer than expected, so you know I have to work hard at it and not press at it and just go out there and let my athleticism take over."

Still, Buxton said he is not concerned about his hitting at this point.

"I'm still young, still going to get some more experience and really, they just tell me my hitting will come," he said. "I'm going to keep working hard every day in the cages and preparing myself for the game and just try to go out there and see what happens. But there's no pressure. I'm going to do what I can to help us win games."

One of the people who will have a big impact on Buxton's improvement is hitting coach Tom Brunansky. Buxton said they are working diligently, though Brunansky is also comfortable with where Buxton is as a hitter.

"Yes, we go in the cage every day and work on my routine and go to [batting practice] and work on little bitty things, but it's nothing major," Buxton said. "It's just small things on the mental side, and some on the physical side, but more mental. Then once the game starts, I just go out there and let my athleticism play and that's what I do."

Confident he can hit

Buxton's confidence remains high that he'll be able to hit in the majors.

"It's going to take a little adjustment, but you have to make adjustments to improve yourself, and you have to fail to succeed," he said. "I'm just working day by day and trying to get myself better and prepare myself for the game to be able to go out there and do good things."

There's plenty of reason for Buxton to be confident. While he has struggled to hit initially at several minor league levels, he has always come around and hit extremely well.

In his first eight games with the rookie-ball Gulf Coast League Twins in 2012, Buxton went 1-for-27 (.037) before hitting .295 (18-for-61) over his next 19 games and getting promoted to the Appalachian Rookie League with Elizabethton. There he hit .179 (7-for-39) in his first 11 games, then hit .395 (15-for-38) over the final 10 games.

In 2013 he was at low Class A Cedar Rapids and hit well for two months. He was then promoted to high Class A Fort Myers, where he hit .245 over his first 23 games (24-for-98) and then hit .392 (47-for-120) over his final 34 games to end his second season.

In 2014, he started at Fort Myers and hit .143 (5-for-37) in his first 10 games and then hit .279 (24-for-86) over his next 20 games before being injured. Then last year, he started at Class AA Chattanooga and hit .190 (11-for-58) through his first 14 games and then hit .313 (56-for-179) before being called up to the Twins.

Buxton feels like he continues to improve.

"I feel pretty good," he said. "I had some good at-bats, not swinging at as many pitches out of the strike zone, and just really getting up there and putting the ball in play a little bit more and trying to get on base."

One way the Twins want Buxton to improve his average is by using his speed and bunting when the opportunity presents itself.

"I bunt every day," he said. "Just after we get done with batting practice, I go to the back field and work on bunting for a hit and pushing. That's going to be a big part of my game and just have to keep increasing and working on that to improve what I'm doing."

Buxton is also keeping an eye on his teammate Miguel Sano, who is learning to play right field.

"He goes out there every day and works hard," Buxton said. "He's trying to get better out there, and me and him communicate real well and have communicated real well this spring. Everything is going good and we're really just ready to get out there and get things rolling."

For now, Buxton might hit at the bottom of the batting order. If the Twins are to reach the playoffs, it will be imperative for Buxton to show improvement, but he also might make his batting average less important if he provides great fielding and all-around play.

Jottings

• The death of Joe Garagiola, one of the great catchers-turned-broadcasters of all-time, brought back a relationship I had with him in connection with the Mayo Clinic. At one time they held a fundraiser called Mayo Today, which brought in people they had cured who had financial wealth. To make it attractive, Mayo brought in top speakers and other sports figures. Not that I'm in the category of some of these people, but I was a member of that group along with Garagiola and got to be good friends with him. Garagiola was against ballplayers using tobacco products, and the Twins had a former center fielder named Bill Tuttle whose face was badly scarred after surgeries for cancer he had developed from chewing snuff. The biggest favor I did for Garagiola was get him a picture of Tuttle, and it wasn't easy because in those days the Star Tribune did not give out photographs. I had to go to the publisher to get it, and Garagiola used that picture to illustrate the effects of using snuff.

• While the Timberwolves still have only the fifth-worst record, they are playing better than many NBA teams at this stage of the season. Their 5-5 record in their past 10 games is the fifth-best mark in the Western Conference, trailing only the Warriors (9-1), Spurs (8-2), Thunder (8-2) and Jazz (8-2).

• It's pretty much a secret that the University of Illinois had Division I hockey from 1937-1943, and one of my friends who followed it closely claims ex-Gophers coach John Mariucci was a part of the Illinois program at one time. Maybe there's a chance Illinois will become the eighth team in Big Ten hockey, after the conference added Notre Dame last week.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on 830-AM at 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. shartman@startribune.com