The Twins will get a sneak preview of their latest acquisition on Thursday, when shortstop Eduardo Nunez arrives at Target Field for a doubleheader against Toronto made necessary by Wednesday's rainout.
According to a report in the Rochester Chronicle and Democrat, Escobar will serve as the Twins' 26th man, under baseball rules that enable teams to add an extra player for doubleheaders. Nunez has batted .318 with one homer and three RBI since the Twins sent pitcher Miguel Sulbaran to the New York Yankees on April 7 in exchange for the 26-year-old infielder.
Nunez, who has 270 games of major league experience with the Yankees, is considered a potential rival to current starter Pedro Florimon for the shortstop job. Florimon is 3-for-32 at the plate so far this season.
But Nunez is expected to return to Class AAA Rochester in time for Friday's Red Wings game, the Rochester newspaper said.
The doubleheader was made necessary by April snow and rain showers that made Target Field too wet to play Wednesday's scheduled game between the Twins and Blue Jays.
Since this is Toronto's only visit to Minnesota this season, the postponed game will be made up at 6:10 p.m. Thursday, after the regularly scheduled 12:10 game. The two games will require separate tickets to attend.
Both games will be televised. The opener, which originally wasn't going to be televised, will be on FSN, and the second game will be on FSN Plus.
Kyle Gibson will pitch Game 1 for the Twins against R.A. Dickey. Mike Pelfrey, who had been scheduled to start Tuesday against his former Mets teammate Dickey, instead will pitch Game 2 against Dustin McGowan.
