Twins notes: Wrist injury sends Arcia to DL

Oswaldo Arcia said Wednesday that his right wrist was much better and that he was available to play. That was before he took batting practice.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire watched Arcia swing and said the young outfielder "wasn't quite letting it loose." Then, following a conversation with training staff, Arcia admitted his wrist still bothered him. So the Twins put him on the 15-day disabled list and called up outfielder Darin Mastroianni from Class AAA Rochester.

With Josh Willingham day-to-day because of a sore left wrist, the Twins are running out of bodies and can't wait even a few more days for Arcia to get healthy. They were out of available bench players when Wednesday's 7-4 loss to Oakland went into extra innings.

"I don't think we can keep playing two guys short," Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said.

Arcia, 2-for-18 this season, hasn't played since Friday in Cleveland, when he suffered the injury while hitting in the indoor batting cage. He is eligible to come off the DL on April 20.

"I don't think Arcia is improving at the rate he needs to be available here in the next few days," Antony said.

As for Willingham, who was hit in the wrist by a pitch Sunday, he took some swings indoors before Wednesday's game and is feeling better. He provided Gardenhire with an update following his session with reporters. Antony also sounded optimistic that Willingham is on the right path.

But he wasn't well enough to appear in Wednesday's game.

Statistics suggest Eduardo Nunez, the infielder the Twins acquired from the Yankees on Monday, is a downgrade at shortstop from Pedro Florimon. But Antony trusts his scouting reports more than the advance data available to him.

"I put a lot of stock in a lot of different metrics, the defensive one the least," Antony said. "Every year, that seems to be the one thing that is the hardest to measure."

And three scouts called him with favorable reports on Nunez when it was learned that the Yankees had designated him for assignment. So the Twins nabbed Nunez in exchange for minor league lefthander Miguel Sulbaran. Nunez might throw erratically at times, but the Twins are willing to play him if he can get a few hits.

"We believe that he can play short and can play third," Antony said.

Nunez is expected to play several games for the Red Wings, then be called up to the Twins.

• Joe Mauer batted with two men on and two outs in the 11th and drew a walk. He is the only Twins regular without an RBI.

• Oakland has won its past eight games vs. the Twins, having beating them six of seven times in September. The seven runs the Athletics scored Wednesday are their fewest during that span. Oakland has scored eight runs three times during the streak, nine once, 11 twice and 18 once.