Logan Morrison's All-Star break begins early with trip to disabled list

Logan Morrison's All-Star break will start four days early.

The Twins first baseman and designated hitter, bothered in recent weeks by soreness in his left hip, has been placed on the 10-day disabled list. His roster spot was taken by Ehire Adrianza, who has recovered from a hamstring injury that sidelined him 10 days ago.

Morrison explained that he has had hip soreness in the past but has been able to manage it. This case is different. He missed the June 5 doubleheader with the White Sox because of back soreness and said it has traced back to his hip issue.

"I think the hip itself has been manageable," he said. "It's kind of having to miss some games because my back has gone out, things like that. Hip is kind of influencing it.

"Just to be able to get some rest get some of the inflammation out of there, hopefully that takes care of the aching and whatever little other stuff I have going on in the hip and then if that moves correctly then my back will be fine."

Morrison, batting .193 with 11 home runs in his first season with the Twins — he hit his 11th home run in Wednesday's 8-5 victory over Kansas City — has been diagnosed with a left hip impingement, though the injury is not believed to be serious. With MLB teams taking four days off next week for the All-Star break, it's possible Morrison could miss only six games while recovering.

Second baseman Brian Dozier said Morrison was starting to look dangerous at the plate.

Morrison declined to answer how much the hip problem has affected him at the plate.

"I don't think it's in the excuse category at all for him, but we've been talking about this for a while," manager Paul Molitor said. "We got the direction from some of the physicians that this was probably a good time to take advantage, give him 10 days and let the injection go to work, which he received, and hopefully he'll be ready to go on the 22nd when he's eligible."

Adrianza began Thursday batting .261 in 64 games this year, mostly filling in at shortstop during Jorge Polanco's steroids suspension. With Polanco back, Adrianza could return to his utility role that he filled in 70 games last year. Thursday, he started at third as Eduardo Escobar was given a break.

Rain began falling at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday and turned into a downpour soon after that. The Twins internally announced a 7:50 restart as the rain subsided, only for the grounds crew to pull the tarp back on when rain returned.

More steady rain delayed the game over another hour. An announcement was made to the fans that the game would start at 9:05 p.m., with the Twins seconds later announcing that it was pushed back to 9:10.

• The Rays on Thursday called up righthander Chih-Wei Hu from Class AAA Durham, and he came in to pitch in the fourth inning in relief of Blake Snell. The 24-year-old from Taiwan was signed by the Twins but traded to the Rays in 2015 for reliever Kevin Jepsen.

• The Twins are looking at all options for a Sunday starter, including making it a reliever relay. Righthander Aaron Slegers, who is available out of the bullpen, could be an option for his third consecutive start if he doesn't pitch over the next couple of days.