PITTSBURGH -- Even before they received the results of an MRI exam, the Twins placed rookie left-hander Kendry Rojas on the 15-day injured list. Rojas was scratched from a scheduled start on Thursday due to left elbow soreness.
“I think any time you’re scratching a guy in that situation, and he’s 23 years old and left-handed and throws 97, we’re going to make sure that he’s OK,” said manager Derek Shelton.
The MRI revealed inflammation in Rojas’ left triceps muscle. There is not yet a timetable for his return.
Minnesota also optioned right-handed reliever Travis Adams to Triple-A St. Paul, recalling lefty Kody Funderburk and reinstating righty Cody Laweryson from his Minor League rehab assignment. Laweryson had been on the injured list with a right forearm strain.
Adams had been pitching well until a poor outing on Wednesday in Chicago, but he was mostly sent down because the Twins felt they needed innings in their bullpen. Adams had pitched two days in a row so he would have been unavailable Friday, and fellow long-relief option Simeon Woods Richardson started in place of Rojas on Thursday so he will be unavailable for a few days.
“The way the game works, it’s unfortunate at times,” Shelton said. “No. 1, Travis has options. No. 2, he was unavailable today. … He had a bad outing in Chicago. We played bad that day. So it wasn’t just attributed [to him]. But if you go back to the beginning of this road trip, he got a huge save in Boston. He did a good job. It’s just a situation where, it’s kind of where we’re at right now.”
Buxton getting closer
Byron Buxton took a step closer to returning to the outfield on Friday when he threw for the first time since jamming his shoulder last weekend in Boston. Buxton, who has also been dealing with right hip soreness, has been participating in pregame defensive drills but has not been throwing.
It’s still uncertain when he will be cleared to return to playing center field. He missed five games earlier this month due to the hip issue, and upon returning has played almost exclusively designated hitter, with only one game in center field in that stretch. Shelton said that being cleared to throw in games is the final obstacle for Buxton to return to the outfield.
Lewis keeps raking
Royce Lewis homered and doubled for Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday. The homer was his fifth in seven games since being optioned. Lewis is 9-for-28 (.321) for the Saints with an .893 slugging percentage in that span. He also homered in both games of a rehab assignment at St. Paul earlier this year, and his seven total homers rank sixth on the team despite his only having 35 at-bats.