Injured Josh Donaldson, Homer Bailey don't appear ready to return to Twins any time soon

KANSAS CITY, MO. – The Twins have five players on the injured list. None of them is with the team on this 10-day road trip.

That could be taken as a sign that none of them is expected to be activated before the trip ends in Detroit on Aug. 30. Usually, if a player is close to being activated, he travels with the team. And the Twins prefer to keep their players from getting on commercial flights, for health reasons.

This doesn't apply to catcher Mitch Garver (right intercostal strain) and outfielder Byron Buxton (left shoulder), who just landed on the IL Thursday. But it does refer to third baseman Josh Donaldson and righthanders Homer Bailey and Cody Stashak, as indications that it will be later than sooner that they will be available to play.

Donaldson, the Twins' $94 million free-agent signing last offseason, did start taking grounders and getting in some running earlier this week as he recovers from right calf soreness.

Bailey recently threw his first bullpen session as he recovers from biceps tendinitis.

"That kind of hints at any sort of timeline," manager Rocco Baldelli said when asked about Donaldson or Bailey being ready during the road trip. "I'm not really focused on any of the individual dates right now. I'm not sure if those guys are going to be meeting us at that point.

"Could it be close? Yes. I think it could be close. Is it possible? Yes. But I wouldn't call it likely and just leave it at that, because we're really not sure at this point."

So the Twins began the trip with three position players, one starter and one reliever not expected to contribute. After the weekend series against Kansas City, the Twins will head to Cleveland for three games and Detroit for four.

After batting .140 over his first 18 games, Miguel Sano went 7-for-17 with six doubles over the next four. He went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks in Friday's 7-2 loss to the Royals.

Early in the season, Sano was getting blown away with 93-mile-per-hour fastballs. More recently, he has been taking close pitches and hitting the ball hard to the opposite field.

Baldelli said Sano went back to a couple of things that helped him last season, adjusting his hands and working with the high-velocity pitching machine. The contraption was out on the field during early batting practice at Target Field during the homestand, firing 99-mph fastballs at hitters.

"He started spending a lot of time hitting the velocity machine," Baldelli said. "He tinkered with his hands a little bit. And just reminded himself of a couple things he likes to go back to. And he took off. I think we're seeing him return to some of these different concepts and some of these different drills that really got him in a good place last year."

Sano has been taking better at-bats and being more selective. And the first baseman is a fan of the high-velocity machine.

"That's one of my routines from last year. I've been doing it with [coaches] Rudy [Hernandez] and Edgar [Varela] right now," he said. "I try to get on top of the ball because when I do that, I'm a better hitter. That's something we have been doing the last few days, and I feel much better at the plate now."

• Shortstop Jorge Polanco was not in the starting lineup Friday. He had appeared in every game this season and the Twins currently are in a stretch in which they play on 20 consecutive days. Look for Nelson Cruz, who has appeared in all 27 games this season, to get a game off in the near future.

• The Royals placed catcher Salvador Perez (blurry vision) on the IL and called up lefthander Randy Rosario, who broke in with the Twins in 2017.