Going into Saturday, Max Kepler was almost to the finish line of his injury recovery and readying to take on more center field responsibility.
By the end of the second inning, he had tumbled far enough back to end up on the injured list.
The Twins placed their right fielder on the 10-day IL Sunday because of a left hamstring strain, further diminishing an already thin outfield with Byron Buxton and Jake Cave also sidelined. Kepler appeared to reinjure his hamstring trying to outrun a ground ball to first in the 6-5 victory over Kansas City.
"I was a little surprised that when he ran a little harder on that ball, that his hamstring, he tweaked it, I mean really is what happened," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He's going to be down for the 10 days at minimum. I do think there's a chance that it's going to be closer to 10 days than anything else for him, but we'll see."
Kepler will stay home and receive treatment during the road trip to Baltimore and Kansas City that starts Monday.
In his place, the Twins recalled catcher Ben Rortvedt, who had backed up Mitch Garver from April 30 to May 21 before returning to Class AAA St. Paul. Rortvedt started behind the plate Sunday and hit his first career home run on his first pitch of the game.
Center field options
Calling up Rortvedt instead of someone to help in the outfield was a sign of Baldelli's faith in makeshift center fielder Rob Refsnyder as well as rookies Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach.
"We're going to ride Rob Refsnyder out there probably every day when possible. And when we get to a day when we can't, if we have to make a move of any kind, maybe we will at that point," Baldelli said, adding Kyle Garlick or Kirilloff could anchor the outfield if needed. "… Truthfully, our young corner outfielders have been playing well. They've been playing confidently. I've really liked what I've seen from them both offensively and defensively and the work they're putting in defensively, especially.
