Schafer resting bruised ribs after leaping grab

MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins outfielder Jordan Schafer bruised his ribs making a leaping catch against the left-field wall in the ninth inning of Friday's 7-6 loss to the Angels. He's day to day.

Schafer remained in the game after the catch but was removed for a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning because he felt soreness in his ribs while trying to swing in the batting cages. He was held out of the lineup on Saturday as a result. Aaron Hicks made his first career start in left field in Schafer's absence.

"Last night when he tried to swing on deck he felt it pretty good, and when he came in today he was feeling great until he grabbed a bat," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He tried to do a little swinging but it's still there. So he's day to day."

Schafer's injury came despite the Twins installing new padding in the outfield walls before their six-game homestand against the White Sox and Angels. The Twins are the first team to debut the new outfield walls, using 8 inches of padding consisting of a foam-like material called Trocellen. The Twins paid six figures to Covermaster to install the padding, according to Twins vice president of operations Matt Hoy.

"It's a thicker pad, and on the foam they adhere almost like a membrane that doesn't have as many bubbles as a normal foam does," Hoy said. "What that does is it disperses the pressure when you hit it so that it goes out. If you hit the old stuff hard, you'd go right into the backing."

The Twins installed the padding to help avoid concussions, but Gardenhire said even with the new padding, Schafer hit the wall at an awkward angle.

"The padding is supposed to take away the shock," Gardenhire said. "But he hit it with his arms stretched trying to catch the ball. So it depends on how you hit it. Think about it. He was running as hard as he could. If you run into it and your arm is stretched out, I don't care how much padding you have. And that's what happened."