KANSAS CITY -- The Twins have a week to figure out whether several of their key contributors will be healthy enough for the start of the American League Division Series, which will get underway on Friday, Oct 4.

Two of the more significant questions were answered, when manager Rocco Baldelli said he anticipates both Max Kepler (left rhomboid strain) and Marwin Gonzalez (right oblique tightness) will be good to go for postseason play.

It appears likely that Kepler will not appear in a game against the Royals this weekend at Kauffman Stadium, as Baldelli said the Twins would only put their center fielder into a game if they were confident that there would not be any chance of a setback. Instead, they will continue to monitor Kepler's workouts and potentially have him participate in live batting practice to ramp up for the playoffs.

Baldelli had previously expressed the hope that he could get some of his injured contributors back on the field in the final regular-season series against the Royals to ease them back into game action instead of exposing them directly to postseason play.

"As far as just putting him out there for the sake of finding out, I don’t think that that’s probably the best way to approach it," Baldelli said. "I don’t think we’re going to do that. I think we’re going to continue to monitor his workouts and make sure that he’s feeling better and better as opposed to putting him in the game and saying, 'Well, let’s see if he sinks or swims at this point.'"

The Twins will also continue to monitor Gonzalez, who hasn't appeared in a game since last Sunday. He was scratched from Tuesday's starting lineup in Detroit with tightness in his right oblique, which also kept him out of action for 18 games at the end of August and the beginning of September.

"With Marwin, he’s a guy that has great feel for his body and what he needs to do to get ready, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out how he’s doing and if he wants to play or thinks he needs to play this weekend," Baldelli said.

Baldelli could not yet make a firm commitment regarding the postseason status of either C.J. Cron (bruised right thumb) or Ehire Adrianza (right oblique strain). Adrianza has continued to recover from the oblique injury sustained on Sept. 12 against the Nationals and he has been taking infield drills, but he still has not been hitting at full capacity.

Cron was in Friday's starting lineup for the series opener against the Royals, but Baldelli said that the thumb is still affecting Cron's ability to swing and that the Twins will continue to play the situation day by day.

"We're going to see how it goes," Baldelli said. "We're going to see how he responds, make sure he feels good, and we're going to start there. We've been playing this day-to-day for a while, and I think it's really our only option. I think looking ahead too far when you're dealing with something like that generally becomes problematic."

Worth noting

• Right-hander Kyle Gibson said that he could appear in back-to-back games during this weekend's series against the Royals as the Twins continue to evaluate the veteran starter for a possible bullpen role in the postseason.

Gibson last served as a full-time reliever when he was a freshman closer at the University of Missouri. He said that his arm felt good on Friday after he threw 43 pitches in two innings on Tuesday in Detroit.

• Saturday's contest against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium has been moved up to 1:15 p.m. CT due to the expectation of inclement weather in the area. The game was originally scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m.