Twins send Matt Wallner to St. Paul, activate Trevor Larnach from injured list

BALTIMORE – The Twins were willing to write off Matt Wallner’s 5-for-38 performance in training camp as the result of self-applied pressure, angst over whether he would make the team.

But the slump has continued, and even worsened once the team came north. Wallner is 2-for-25 (.080) since the season started, and one of the hits, his lone home run, came against a position player. More than half of his plate appearances, 17 of 33, have ended in strikeouts.

The Twins finally took action Tuesday, sending the Forest Lake High grad back to Class AAA St. Paul.

“It’s a good opportunity for a reset — both a physical reset at the plate but also a mental reset,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It didn’t really come together easily for him. … He’ll be fine. He just needs to go get some work in and go whack some balls around. I think he’ll feel like himself before long.”

The decision was made a lot easier when Trevor Larnach’s sore right foot healed and he completed a three-game rehabilitation assignment in Fort Myers. Larnach went only 2-for-11 with a double, but “when he’s going good, he can drive the ball to all fields,” Baldelli said. “He’s healthy and feeling good right now, so this is a good opportunity for him. We’re going to see him get plenty of at-bats when we face righthanded pitching, especially.”

The foot problem cropped up near the end of spring training, Larnach said, and though he initially tried to play despite it, “you don’t really want to push through things and then have it be a problem” during the season.

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Larnach was optioned to St. Paul with 10 days to go in camp, at least partly to relieve the pressure the Twins feared Wallner was feeling. If the three-year veteran was angered by the move, he didn’t show it.

“Honestly, being around for a little bit now and understanding how things work on the business side, that’s a little bit more settling. And that’s really all I can say on that,” Larnach said. “I’m just trying to get better and work on myself, and understand that there are some things I can’t control.”

Besides, the timing of his recall came with an added benefit: He will see his close friend and former teammate on Oregon State’s World Series championship team, Adley Rutschman.

“I’ll be talking to him. He’s DHing tonight, so I won’t give him a click with the bat, but I’ll probably see him tomorrow behind the plate,” Larnach said of the Baltimore Orioles’ Silver Slugger catcher. “I’m happy for him, man. He deserves everything he’s got. I’ll root for him however long he plays.”

How has Jhoan Duran’s rehab from an oblique strain been going?

“Boring,” Duran assessed. “I feel bored, but it’s OK. I understand the process.”

And it’s about to get less boring. Duran threw 25 pitches in the bullpen before Tuesday’s game, and “every pitch [was] more in the zone,” he said. “I’m feeling close to 100 percent.”

Duran will face Twins hitters Friday at Target Field and could begin a rehab assignment when the Saints return to St. Paul next week.

Their infield depth stretched by injuries to Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis, the Twins on Tuesday signed veteran second baseman Tony Kemp to a minor league contract. Kemp will be assigned to St. Paul, where injuries to Michael Helman and Brooks Lee have further depleted the organization’s roster of infielders.

Kemp, 32, has played for the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics and started this season with the Orioles. But after going hitless in 10 plate appearances, the nine-year veteran was released Saturday.

Will Holland went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI and scored twice, but the St. Paul Saints fell 10-6 to the host Indianapolis Indians. Hill’s blast to left drew the Saints within one run at 7-6, but the Indians scored three in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Josh Staumont, who had pitched a perfect sixth.