Byron Buxton begins rehab stint in St. Paul; Olympian Joe Ryan starts for Saints tonight

NEW YORK — Byron Buxton has homered twice in his Twins career against only five pitchers, one of them being former Blue Jays righthander Joe Biagini. Which makes for an interesting reunion Friday.

Sixty days after a Tyler Mahle pitch fractured his left hand, Buxton will begin a rehab stint for the Class AAA St. Paul Saints on Friday, and by coincidence, Biagini will be on the mound for the Iowa Cubs. Buxton was cleared to return to action after facing teammate Luke Farrell in a full-speed batting-practice session Thursday. He'll play seven innings in center field.

"It took a little time to get his strength back" in the hand, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said, declining to predict how many games Buxton will play for St. Paul. "He's going to get multiple games of at-bats, that's for sure. We're going to let his health dictate where we're at."

That's tricky, of course, as the Twins learned on Buxton's rehab stint from a hip injury in June, when he played three games for the Saints, went 5-for-9 with a double, triple and two home runs, and declared himself ready to return. But when he reported to the Twins, he was clearly still bothered by the hip, leading to an awkward weeklong standoff in which he insisted he was ready but the team didn't activate him.

"One thing we always have to keep in mind is, baseball players really want to play baseball," Baldelli said. No matter the player, "you have to get some straight answers. You should assume nothing. We talk to him often, and we'll continue to do so."

Buxton's return won't be the only notable event at CHS Field on Friday. Olympic silver medalist Joe Ryan, a highly rated righthander acquired in the Nelson Cruz trade last month, will start his first game in the Twins organization.

Using eight pitchers Wednesday came with a cost — or, for a couple of major league veterans, an opportunity. With the Twins' bullpen overtaxed by pitching 16⅔ innings in three games against Cleveland, righthander Kyle Barraclough and lefthander Andrew Albers were summoned from St. Paul.

Barraclough, 31, is a veteran of five major league seasons with the Marlins, Nationals and Giants, and owns a 3.53 ERA in 270 career games. He signed with the Twins in June, and owned a 2.86 ERA in 18 appearances with St. Paul.

To make room, the Twins placed lefthander Lewis Thorpe on the injured list because of a strained left shoulder, and optioned righthander Edgar Garcia to St. Paul.

Miguel Sano was asleep in the Twins' hotel around 7 a.m. Thursday when his phone began buzzing. "Everybody calls me — 'The baby's born! The baby's born!' " Sano said. "I thought people were joking with me."

It's no joke — Sano is a father for the fourth time. Danea, his third daughter, was born overnight in Minneapolis, about a week earlier than her due date. Both Danea and Sano's wife Daniela are doing fine, he said.

Sano had planned to fly home Monday, a scheduled off day, to be with Daniela for the birth. Instead, Sano played Thursday and will return to Minnesota on Friday, taking a three-day paternity leave that will extend to four days on Monday. The Twins will add a player on Friday to replace him.