Twins put Carlos Correa on injured list, call up catcher Jair Camargo, cut reliever Michael Tonkin

DETROIT – It wasn’t one thing that strained his oblique muscle, Carlos Correa said, but a culmination of sneezing and coughing all week, diving for a line drive and, finally, checking his swing on a cold and wet Friday night.

“I tried to swing [and] felt like I couldn’t,” Correa said. “So I was like, ‘I’m not going to swing anymore because I don’t want it to get worse.’ ”

It didn’t, and the injury does not appear to be as severe as the Twins feared when Correa came out of that game. But he won’t be able to play for a while, so the Twins placed their shortstop on the injured list Saturday.

“It’s definitely not playable, but when I talked to other people that had bad oblique strains, it’s nothing like that. I can breathe without pain. So we’ll see,” Correa said. “I’ve played with pain before, and if I could do that right now, I would. But this is not the type of thing you want to do, especially early in the season.”

Willi Castro and Kyle Farmer will inherit Correa’s playing time at shortstop, at a time when both are also being used to replace Royce Lewis at third base. Jose Miranda handled third base in Saturday’s first game, which will happen more frequently, too, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. Even Austin Martin could wind up in the infield at times; he finished Saturday’s first game at second base.

That’s because the Twins, running short of healthy players on their 40-man roster, chose to promote catcher Jair Camargo from Class AAA St. Paul. Camargo had a .825 on-base percentage plus slugging percentage for the Saints, and he gives the Twins another power source and some protection on days when Ryan Jeffers serves as the designated hitter.

“We’re a little bit shorthanded on the left side [of the infield], so we’re going to have to manage just what those games look like, the moves we can make,” Baldelli said. “We might make fewer moves because we just don’t have anyone else to play.”

As far as Camargo is concerned, he’s willing to play shortstop if the Twins ask him to. That’s how excited the 24-year-old Colombian catcher is to be in the big leagues after eight seasons in the minors.

“Actually, I was just taking ground balls at shortstop yesterday, just to make it fun,” the lifelong catcher said. “And then when I got the call, I was like, ‘You know, that’s why they called me up — they saw me play at shortstop.’ ”

OK, probably not, but Camargo didn’t care what the reason was. He’s been waiting a long time for this day.

“Amazing. Since I was a little kid, I was dreaming about this time,” Camargo said. “I’ve been playing with most of the guys here, and it’s amazing to be able to share this moment.”

Camargo was on a FaceTime call with a friend when Saints manager Toby Gardenhire called with the news. “I was like, ‘Hold on, I’ve got to get this call,’ ” he said. “I FaceTimed my family right away. It was amazing — a lot of screaming.”

Camargo has long been known as a strong defender, but he’s developed into a power threat since being obtained by the Twins in 2020, hitting 21 home runs for St. Paul last year.

“It’s been great. This group [of coaches] has been doing a good job with me, trying to know my strengths and what I can be as my best version, hittingwise,” he said. “It’s been incredible.”

The Twins made one other transaction, adding pitcher Matt Bowman from the Saints and designating for assignment Michael Tonkin, who was acquired only four days earlier.

Tonkin, who also played for the Twins from 2013 to ′17, pitched only once, giving up two runs in two innings while striking out five Friday. But the Twins felt they needed another fresh arm for Saturday’s doubleheader, and Tonkin wouldn’t have been available.

“We have to make hard decisions sometimes. I talked to him last night, went to his room at the hotel to discuss it with him,” Baldelli said. “We have a lot of innings to cover, so we had to do something.”

Bowman, 32, has also pitched for the Cardinals, Reds and Yankees, and he did not allow an earned run over six innings with St. Paul this season.

Friday was the first anniversary of the Lucas Giolito fastball that struck Farmer in the mouth, costing him several teeth and a month of the season. So he wasn’t pleased when Tigers reliever Alex Faedo buzzed him with a high-and-tight fastball on a 3-0 count.

“It was really close. I just don’t understand, honestly, how pitchers do that. They don’t really see any repercussions from it,” Farmer said. “Pitchers aren’t hitting anymore, so they don’t have to feel what it’s like to be in the box. They’re just ripping stuff in there at 95 [mph] with no control. But you can affect a guy’s career by doing that.”

Matt Mervis hit a two-run homer and Chase Strumpf hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning as Iowa beat the shorthanded Saints 4-3 at CHS Field. Saints pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts, including six in 2⅔ innings from Ryan Jensen.