Buxton near rehabbing; Polanco's historic AB

MINNEAPOLIS -- One or two sessions of live batting practice could be all that stands between Byron Buxton and a rehab assignment.

Buxton will head to St. Paul on Thursday to take his first swings against live pitching since his left hand was struck by a pitch on June 21, with the potential for another such session to follow. Depending on how his hand responds, the Twins will next evaluate his readiness for a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul.

"He looks great," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He’s moving around great. We just need to make sure that the strength [is] in that hand and make sure that there’s no soreness in that hand. Make sure everything is where it needs to be."

Buxton participated in pregame workouts with the Twins at Target Field throughout last week, featuring light batting practice sessions, baserunning and fielding drills. He took some time away from the team over the weekend to attend to a family matter before he returned on Monday and continued his workouts in the team environment.

And as Buxton himself knows too well, his progression to this stage doesn't necessarily mean he's out of the clear, either. His return from a right hip strain in June was delayed after issues with decelerating first pushed back the start of his rehab assignment, and continued problems with the hip necessitated an additional few days of workouts without rehab games before he made his return.

Buxton has missed nearly two months with the fracture in his hand, which occurred in only his third game back from the hip issue. If his hand doesn't respond well to the live pitching, he will likely take a few more days for recovery before testing it out again. But the Twins hope it won't come to that.

"Buck, his rehab period of time, he’s done everything that he can possibly do," Baldelli said. "The bone has probably healed slightly slower than maybe we were thinking originally. There’s no way to know these things, though. We just have to wait, see how the body responds and watch it play out."

Twins continue to deal with COVID-19 issues
The Twins are already down two coaches due to positive COVID-19 tests, with co-hitting coach Edgar Varela and first-base coach Tommy Watkins both away from the club. Baldelli announced Wednesday that two other Twins staff members are also out with "COVID-related issues."

While he hoped that this would mark the extent of this surge in the clubhouse, he couldn't make any guarantees.

"We're hoping in every way, and also doing our best as a staff, to make sure that we keep it localized," Baldelli said. "There’s no way to know. There’s no way to feel confident, I think, about anything related to COVID, but we’re going to do everything that we can to make sure that we keep this at the level that it's at."

Watkins, who was vaccinated against COVID-19, was suddenly pulled from the third inning of Monday's series opener against Cleveland, and the announcement of his positive test followed. Minnesota and Cleveland played their Tuesday matchup without issue.

The Twins will embark on a seven-game road trip through New York and Boston following Wednesday's game. They already had three games on a West Coast road trip to Anaheim and Oakland postponed in April due to an outbreak in the clubhouse that sent five players to the COVID injured list.

"When it enters your space, it’s always challenging," Baldelli said. "It’s challenging simply to function sometimes. It’s challenging mentally for some people to know that you could potentially be surrounded by the virus. It’s not a situation anybody -- any team, any person -- wants to be in, but we’re doing our best right now and we’re working through it."

Polanco's historic plate appearance
Jorge Polanco has proved quite the tough opponent for pitchers lately -- even when he's walking back to the dugout at the end of a plate appearance.

Just ask Cleveland right-hander Eli Morgan, whose locked-in, 16-pitch battle with Polanco in a first-inning at-bat during Tuesday's contest featured 11 foul balls before Polanco eventually struck out swinging on a slider.

It marked the longest plate appearance by any Twins hitter in the pitch-tracking era (since 1988) and matched the longest by any big leaguer this season, tying a 16-pitch battle between hitter Pavin Smith of the D-backs and pitcher Jacob Barnes of the Mets.

"Those are a lot of fun because there are a lot of different things that are coming together in those types of at-bats at the same time," Baldelli said. "We don’t see those at-bats very often, but they’re great battles within the battle, and Polo is a guy that has really good bat-to-ball skills, so you’re not really surprised to see him having a really competitive at-bat.

"When it just keeps going like that, it’s kind of a beautiful thing."

The Twins have been no strangers to lengthy at-bats in the last two seasons; they were on the other end of a marathon duel last season, when Minnesota reliever Caleb Thielbar endured a 19-pitch plate appearance by Cardinals catcher Matt Wieters, which matched the third-longest plate appearance by any hitter in the pitch-tracking era.

"You’re really on the edge of your seat, even in the dugout, waiting for the result," Baldelli said.