RHP's Santana and Gibson to the DL, Duffey to start Sunday, Berrios on way

The Twins continue to make moves as 40 percent of their starting rotation landed on the disabled list

April 26, 2016 at 10:35PM
Minnesota Twins pitcher Ervin Santana in the first inning.
Minnesota Twins pitcher Ervin Santana. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Twins are placing righthanders Ervin Santana (lower back strain) and Kyle Gibson (shoulder strain) on the 15-day disabled list, making room for Jose Berrios to make his major league debut on Wednesday and Tyler Duffey to start on Saturday.

Santana hurt his back in Washington while shagging fly balls in the outfield. Gibson's injury is the latest development. He said he felt more than general soreness after his outing on Friday in Washington. The Twins checked him out and determined there's some soreness in there that needs to be worked out.

``We're not dealing with anything overly significant that's going to require any type of procedure," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. ``We're just going to have to calm that thing down the best we can and try to get his strength back so he can pitch."

Usually a sore shoulder means a month on the sidelines. The Twins are holding out hope that Gibson will be back sooner than that, as his injury is not that serious.

``There was nothing prior to his last start that we believe was there," Molitor said. ``We believe it occurred that last start."

Santana threw in the bullpen Friday in Washington then felt soreness in his back when he tried to bend down to field a grounder in the outfield. And his back has not responded the way he hoped. After he played catch on Monday, I asked him how it went, and he shook his head from left-to-right as to say. ``not good."

This opens the door for Berrios and Duffey to show they belong in the majors. All eyes will be on Berrios on Wednesday since he's the 26th ranked prospect in baseball, according to ESPN's Keith Law.

The roster moves have not been announced yet, as Berrios and Jorge Polanco have not arrived at the ballpark yet. The Twins hope there are no travel snafus so Polanco can be available off the bench tonight. Remember, the Twins had just two bench players last night.

Indians

Carlos Santana, DH
Jason Kipnis, 2B
Francisco Lindor, SS
Michael Brantley, LF
Mike Napoli, 1B
Yan Gomes, C
Lonnie Chisenhall, RF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tyler Naquin, CF

Cody Anderson, RHP

Twins

Danny Santana, CF
Brian Dozier, 2B
Joe Mauer, 1B
Miguel Sano, 3B
Oswaldo Arcia, RF
Byung Ho Park, DH
Edaurdo Escobar, SS
Kurt Suzuki, C
Eddie Rosario, LF

Ricky Nolasco, RHP

about the writer

about the writer

La Velle E. Neal III

Columnist

La Velle E. Neal III is a sports columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune who previously covered the Twins for more than 20 years.

See More

More from Twins

card image
card image