CLEVELAND -- Twins center fielder Byron Buxton, who is on the 10-day disabled list with a fractured left big toe, is set to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday.
Buxton participated in a pregame workout at Progressive Field on Saturday and flew to Minnesota afterward. He's headed to Rochester on Sunday and will play in his first game after the Red Wings' off-day on Monday. Buxton went on the DL for the second time this season on May 30.
"It's good news for us," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We got him out early today to get on the field again. It's been a combination of trying to restore his health as well as the fact that we've done a little bit of tweaking with some of the things mechanically he's doing, hitting."
As Molitor noted, Buxton worked with hitting coach James Rowson on changing his mechanics a bit at the plate while he was along with the Twins on their road trip in Detroit and Cleveland. After a breakout second half last year, Buxton is hitting just .156/.183/.200 with no homers and four doubles in 28 games this season.
"Hopefully the combination of him feeling better and having a good mindset about where his swing is at will produce some good results down there," Molitor said. "We're working on just making sure there's balance on the 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. Not that you have video of BP today, but hopefully when we come back and you see some of the changes, it's more conditioned to consistency."
Molitor added that Buxton's return will be determined not only by his health, but also how he's faring at the plate with Rochester. There's no timetable for Buxton's return, but rehab assignments are limited to 20 games for position players.
"It'll be a combination," Molitor said. "We've told him to take the pressure off. We're not going to set a date. We're not going to worry about, in five days or 10 days or whenever. We're going to go down there, not sure about the return, and just see if we can start getting him back to the player we know he can be."
Worth noting
• The Twins announced they signed seventh-round Draft pick Josh Winder, ninth-rounder Willie Joe Garry Jr. and 10th-rounder Regi Grace. The Twins have also agreed to terms with second-rounder Ryan Jeffers for $800,000, fourth-rounder DaShawn Keirsey for $600,000 and eighth-rounder Chris Williams for $10,000, according to MLB.com's Jim Callis. They've now agreed to terms with 21 of their 40 picks.
• Right-hander Trevor May was placed on the Minor League DL with right shoulder inflammation. May, coming off last year's Tommy John surgery, has struggled with his command at Triple-A, posting a 6.11 ERA with 16 strikeouts and 13 walks in 17 2/3 innings.
• Class A Advanced Fort Myers infielder Travis Blankenhorn won the Florida State League Home Run Derby on Friday night in Tampa, Fla. Blankenhorn ranks as the club's No. 13 prospect by MLB Pipeline.