JUPITER, Fla. -- The Twins are still ironing out the details for their quick hop to the Dominican Republic on Saturday, but their personnel picture for the game against the Tigers is becoming clearer as the travel day approaches.

Among Dominican players on the roster, the current plan is for designated hitter Nelson Cruz and first baseman Miguel Sanó to travel back to their home country and play in the game, while shortstop Jorge Polanco is not expected to play and has undecided travel plans, manager Rocco Baldelli said before Monday's 6-1 loss to the Cardinals.

Polanco was slow to appear in games this spring due to his recovery from arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle last November but finally started at designated hitter and went 2-for-3 on Sunday against the Rays.

"The most important thing for [Polanco] is to stay on a good schedule," Baldelli said. "It's my opinion -- I think it's the organization's opinion -- that having him travel to the Dominican Republic for a 24-hour trip to play in his third-ish game of the spring coming off a surgery doesn't make good sense.

"But it's a great trip and we know that and it means a lot to our players, especially our players from the Dominican Republic, to be able to go home and spend time around their friends and family. ... But as far as playing in the game, I don't think it's necessarily good to send him out there in unusual circumstances for him to go play in the game."

Cruz, Sanó and Polanco are the only three Dominicans on the Twins' 40-man roster that are surefire Major Leaguers. Pitchers Jorge Alcala, Fernando Romero and Jhoan Duran are also from the country, as is Minor League outfielder Gilberto Celestino.

The game will be contested at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in the Dominican Republic's capital city of Santo Domingo and will mark the first Major League game in the country since 2000.

"I think it's an incredible opportunity for the organization to go," Baldelli said. "I'm really happy that we are taking part in it and that our players can take part in it. I think there will be memories built for us, built for people attending the game and people watching the game, the communities that will be a part of this event. I think it's fantastic."

Buxton to progress to live batting practice soon
Center fielder Byron Buxton progressed to hitting batting practice last week and is expected to begin live batting practice in the coming days, according to Baldelli. Though he said at the start of Spring Training that Buxton might appear in games by mid-March, Baldelli declined to offer a concrete timeline for Buxton's return to the field.

"The recovery couldn’t have really gone any better to this point," Baldelli said. "That being said, we don’t have it mapped out as far as when we’re going to get him out there to play."

Buxton, who underwent labrum surgery on his left shoulder last September, previously stood in during live batting practice before the start of Grapefruit League play but did not swing the bat.

"The unknown, when you finally get out there for these live situations, that's really when you're testing yourself and I think we're getting to the spot where we're picking out some dates for those things," Baldelli said.

Want to know the leadoff hitter? Keep guessing
Baldelli's lineup for Sunday's contest against the Rays in Port Charlotte, Fla., marked the first time that all three of the Twins' presumed candidates for the leadoff spot against right-handed pitchers -- Luis Arraez, Polanco and Max Kepler -- were in the lineup together.

For what it's worth, Kepler was slotted into the leadoff role, and Baldelli remained coy when asked whether that was any indication of his plans for the regular season.

"I mean, you can probably read into as much as you’d like or as little as you'd like," Baldelli said, "We have a guy that hit leadoff for us all year long last year [in Kepler] and did a fantastic job. When we’re getting him out there for his outings this spring, I think that's where he's probably fitting most comfortably."

Odds and ends
• Top prospect Royce Lewis followed his towering homer from Sunday with another long drive to left field in the second inning of Monday's ballgame, but narrowly missed his second big fly of the spring when third-base umpire Angel Hernandez ruled that it went just foul. Lewis followed with another chopper just foul before striking out.

Lewis had been 0-for-11 in Grapefruit League play before he went deep off Tampa Bay starter Joe Ryan on Sunday.

• Baldelli, noted film critic, on the 1989 film “Major League”: “‘Major League’ is an American comedy classic. It’s not just a baseball movie. ... [Bench coach] Mike Bell and I were talking about ‘Major League’ the other day, and he goes, ‘My dad was in the movie.’ At the very beginning, when they’re playing ‘Burn On,’ the Randy Newman song, and the intros are coming on, and they’re going year by year, one of the pictures is Mike’s dad [Buddy Bell] rolling on the ground after making a play.”

Up next
The Twins will enjoy their first off-day of the spring Wednesday, which will offer Baldelli and his staff a chance to reset their player schedules in preparation for the trip to the Dominican Republic on Saturday. But first, starting rotation candidate Randy Dobnak will make his second start of Grapefruit League play -- and third of the spring -- when he opposes Tigers right-hander Jordan Zimmermann on Tuesday for a 12:05 p.m. CT matchup against Detroit at Hammond Stadium. The game will be broadcast on FOX Sports North and streamed on MLB.TV and Gameday Audio.