Twins call up Rob Refsnyder as Jake Cave goes on 60-day injured list

Jake Cave's sore lower back isn't just sore, the Twins have discovered — it's damaged. A stress reaction, basically one step short of a fracture, will sideline Cave indefinitely, the team announced Saturday, so the veteran outfielder will be placed on the 60-day injured list.

Rob Refsnyder has been recalled from Class AAA St. Paul and will be in today's starting lineup for the Twins' 3:05 p.m. game (FS1, BSN) with the A's.

Refsnyder, 30, has 181 games of major-league experience with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays and Rangers, and is a career .217 hitter with four home runs.

Like Cave, Refsnyder was drafted by the Yankees nearly a decade ago, a fifth-round pick in 2012 out of the University of Arizona. He was chosen, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said, because the Twins believe he is a better balance of offense and defense than another Saints outfielder, Keon Broxton.

Refsnyder becomes the backup centerfielder — a position he has never played in a major-league game — behind Max Kepler, Baldelli said, as the team deals with the loss of Byron Buxton, Alex Kirilloff and now Cave to injury.

Cave, batting just .167 in 31 games this season, has been trying to play through a sore back recently, but his condition grew worse in Chicago last week, and an examination discovered the stress reaction.

Baldelli also said lefthander Devin Smeltzer (left elbow irritation) will be sidelined a matter of weeks as he rests his pitching arm.

The A's won the series opener 6-1 on Friday night.

Jose Berrios (3-2, 3.49 ERA) pitches for the Twins against A's lefthander Cole Irvin (3-4, 3.29).

OAKLAND LINEUP

Mark Canha, LF

Seth Brown, DH

Ramón Laureano, CF

Matt Olson, 1B

Matt Chapman, 3B

Stephen Piscotty, RF

Chad Pinder, SS

Tony Kemp, 2B

Aramis Garcia, C

TWINS LINEUP

Kyle Garlick, RF

Josh Donaldson, 3B

Nelson Cruz, DH

Mitch Garver, C

Jorge Polanco, 2B

Rob Refsnyder, LF

MIguel Sano, 1B

Max Kepler, CF

Andrelton Simmons, SS