KANSAS CITY -- Twins third baseman Miguel Sano, who has been out since Aug. 19 with a stress reaction to his left shin, continues to make slow progress with the injury and encountered a slight setback on Thursday.
Sano participated in light running drills for the first time on Wednesday, but he came out of it with soreness on Thursday, which caused him to push back his first attempt at taking batting practice. There remains no exact timetable for his return.
"We ended up limiting him to do just hitting off the tee again today," manager Paul Molitor said. "We'll see if we can get him back on the field tomorrow."
With Sano out, Eduardo Escobar has been entrenched at third base, as he made his 13th consecutive start there on Thursday. He's also started at third in 18 of the 20 games Sano has missed due to injury. Escobar entered Thursday hitting .271/.312/.557 with four homers, two doubles, three triples and 17 RBIs over that stretch to help make up for Sano's absence.
"With Miggy being down, we had to find a guy to fill that spot at third base, and it's good to have a guy with a resume and a track record," Molitor said. "It's been a luxury for us. [Escobar has] been a good defender. We know he's streaky and can get really hot offensively."
Worth noting
• Molitor said the club is more than likely done with September callups after making roster moves on Tuesday, including selecting the contract of reliever Michael Tonkin. But it doesn't mean the Twins won't activate left-hander Adalberto Mejia, who is currently rehabbing his biceps strain with Double-A Chattanooga, which is in the postseason.
• With Hurricane Irma hitting Florida and potentially reaching the club's Spring Training complex in Fort Myers, the Twins shut down the facility and bused the players from Class A Advanced Fort Myers to Atlanta to fly home.
• The Twins are deciding whether to skip fifth starter Aaron Slegers' next start, as they can keep everyone on regular rest with an off-day on Monday. It also would keep veteran right-hander Ervin Santana in line to start a potential American League Wild Card Game or one-game playoff after the end of the regular season.