Florimon has appendix removed

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Shortstop Pedro Florimon was one of about 16 Twins position players in camp before Friday's full-squad reporting date. But his plans were upended early Monday when stomach pain sent him to the hospital and, eventually, the removal of his appendix.

Florimon, who batted .221 last season with nine home runs and 44 RBI, will miss at least two weeks of action.

"They said two weeks, then he might start doing baseball activity," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Florimon called Mike Herman, Twins director of team travel, about 2 a.m. Monday to inform him of discomfort. Herman asked Florimon what side the pain was on. When Florimon said, "Right," Herman said, "I'll come get you."

Herman took Florimon to the hospital and called assistant GM Rob Antony.

"It was not ruptured, but it was inflamed," Antony said.

Once full-squad workouts begin, the Twins will have several other shortstops to look at, including Jason Bartlett, Eduardo Escobar, Doug Bernier, Danny Santana and Jorge Polanco. Florimon, barring a disastrous camp, is considered the No. 1 shortstop. But missing time in spring training is not good.

Lefthander Edgar Ibarra, who was added to the Twins 40-man roster after the season, will be limited in camp as he continues to recover from a case of hepatitis B he came down with a couple of weeks ago. Ibarra sat and watched as pitchers threw bullpens Monday and ran in the outfield.

"This was a few weeks ago, so he had to do nothing but rest for a couple of weeks," Antony said. "He's here now and is going to get some tests done. He's going to get all the lab [work] done again to see were he's at."

• Third baseman Miguel Sano (elbow) threw some on Monday and said he felt fine. The Twins say there are no restrictions on Sano, who was shut down early in winter ball because of a strained ulnar collateral ligament. Gardenhire did say they might be careful with how much Sano throws early in camp.

• Reliever Matt Guerrier, who had his flexor mass repaired in August, has been limited to fastballs only and will not pitch in the first seven to 10 games of the spring training season. He will start mixing in curveballs this weekend.

First baseman

2013 stats: .267 batting average, 19 home runs, 93 RBI at Class A Fort Myers.

Acquired: Signed as an un­drafted free agent Feb. 25, 2009.

Role: Starter at Class AA New Britain.

Did you know? The Twins brought Vargas into Fort Myers in January to work on his conditioning.

LA VELLE E. NEAL III