Jorge Polanco, playing third base, expected to rejoin Twins in Kansas City

The Twins will receive a boost to their lineup this weekend when Jorge Polanco is activated from the 10-day injured list.

Polanco is expected to complete his rehab assignment Wednesday and travel with the Twins on their road trip to Kansas City. Third base will likely be his primary position with Edouard Julien starting at second base against righthanded pitching. Polanco, recovering from a pulled hamstring, played seven innings at third base Sunday and nine innings Tuesday.

Despite little time at third base during the rehab assignment, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli thought Polanco playing the position in the majors was more beneficial than keeping him at Class AAA St. Paul for the rest of the week.

"During the game, you don't know what you're going to see," Baldelli said. "You might not get a play. You might get one play. There are a lot of things you're not going to see in a few games at third base. He's going to have to adapt and learn some things quickly, but I think he's capable of that."

If Polanco becomes a regular starter at third base, it probably pushes Willi Castro back into the outfield often. Polanco will continue to play second base, too, particularly when Julien is out of the lineup.

Polanco initiated the move to third base. His agent reached out to Derek Falvey, the president of baseball operations, and asked whether Polanco should start preparing for another position because of Julien's success at the plate.

"It speaks to Jorge as a teammate and who he is," Falvey said. "This guy just wants to be part of a team that's winning."

The Twins believe Polanco's background as a shortstop made him the best fit to move to third base. He hasn't played the position in the majors since 2016. He had two balls hit to him at third Tuesday, and he committed an error in the first inning.

"He's going to have to make some real-time adjustments at third base," Baldelli said. "He's gotten a little bit of action over there. We knew that most of his growth over there would be probably pregame and getting a ton of work before the game."

Alex Kirilloff, the reigning American League player of the week, was out of the lineup Wednesday because of a sore shoulder. Baldelli believed he sustained the injury when he dived for a ground ball last weekend.

"He's got a little bit of inflammation in there, and it's affected his swing over the last couple of days, for sure," Baldelli said.

The Twins are scheduled to face Royals lefthander Ryan Yarbrough on Sunday, so Kirilloff could sit four of the next six days combined with the team's off days.

Caleb Thielbar, recovering from an oblique strain, pitched a scoreless inning in his first outing on a rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints on Tuesday, recording one strikeout and one walk.

The 36-year-old lefty is expected to make another rehab appearance this weekend, Baldelli said, before potentially joining the Twins when they face the Cardinals next week.

• Josh Winder was recalled from Class AAA before Wednesday's game, replacing Oliver Ortega in the bullpen, and pitched the final four innings.

• The St. Paul Saints scored four runs in the sixth and seventh innings to earn a 9-7 win over Toledo on Wednesday. Kyle Garlick hit a grand slam and Andrew Stevenson had three hits to raise his batting average to .330 over 82 games.