MINNEAPOLIS – Byron Buxton says that his teammates have made it “very, very clear” to him: Make smart decisions and do everything he can to stay on the field with them because that’s what his presence means to them.

“All of them [say that],” Buxton said. “Every last one of them. I know how important they are to me, and they express how important I am to them. So it’s definitely a big part of the things I do and want to do out there, so I’ve got to make sure I’ve got their back. That’s my biggest goal.”

His presence in the lineup undeniably hasn’t been its usual self over the past week amid a slump that’s seen Buxton go 3-for-45 since May 7. Still, the Twins are 12-6 in that stretch, with a six-game winning streak coming to an end with a 4-2 loss to the Tigers at Target Field on Wednesday -- and while the superstar center fielder hasn’t yet pinpointed a reason for that skid as he continues to play through a sore right knee, he’s confident that the hits will soon start to fall.

“I ain’t making no excuses for my knee,” Buxton said. “I want to play. I want to contribute to the team. So, I have to make better at-bats, get on base and just try to get more runs across for my teammates. I’m really not thinking too much about [the knee].”

Buxton’s quality of contact does seem to be getting better. He hit a pair of fly balls in Monday’s series opener at 99.2 mph and 101 mph, followed that up on Tuesday with a 105.7 mph shot to the warning track in right-center field and crushed a liner to the left-field warning track on Wednesday at 97.3 mph – needless to say, all hard contact.

In the meantime, he’s also drawn six walks in those 12 games -- more than doubling his season total -- and has still managed to score seven runs, finding ways to contribute even when he’s not hitting balls over the fence. And that’s not to mention the diving catch in right-center during Tuesday’s game that robbed Jeimer Candelario of extra bases.

The center fielder has been hard at work trying to get his bat back to where it was at the start of the season, when he crushed nine homers in his first 18 games, including a postgame cage session with hitting coach David Popkins following Monday night’s 0-for-4 performance, which Baldelli remarked isn’t a common time for Buxton to hit.

Both Baldelli and Buxton have indicated that the sore right knee -- the result of an awkward slide into second base at Fenway Park on April 15 -- lingers even after a five-game rest and measured usage to help it recover. The Twins’ skipper did caution against drawing a direct correlation between the knee and the performance, noting that Buxton previously had success while playing through the soreness, including six homers and a 1.196 OPS in the 10 games immediately following his return from that injury.

Baldelli said Buxton is “maybe slightly improved” from where he was several weeks ago in terms of the knee’s condition but still feels it at times while swinging, while Buxton offered no comment. And while some might suggest a stint on the injured list to fully rest the knee, Buxton and the Twins think that this in-between solution will still allow the knee to heal without taking the helium out of both Buxton and a successful team.

“Mentally is what’s really the toll, being hurt the last few years,” Buxton said. “Then you can play, but stuff's not the way you want it to [be], and then you take another 10 days. Mentally, I’m still in a good spot; I’m positive, I’m confident. So, like I said, it’s just going out there, trying to be there for my teammates, making sure I'm there for them.”

This is a different, more cautious Buxton, wanting more than ever to be there alongside his teammates. He’s not going full-bore on every ground ball; he’s pulling up at the outfield wall at times instead of hurtling headlong into it.

He’s confident he can manage -- and that this funk will soon turn around.

“Just keep putting good swings on the ball,” Buxton said. “Eventually, they’re going to start falling. Like you said, I’m hitting the ball pretty hard. I’m positive I’m trending in the right direction.”