Minnesota

Twins

Varland relieved Wednesday, but that was as a planned bulk guy. This should be more of a traditional middle-inning role for the right-hander. The Twins also made this move last September, and while Varland wasn’t thrilled about it, he had a great final month in the majors, allowing two runs with a 17/1 K/BB ratio in 12 innings. Varland is 0-6 with a 7.62 ERA in seven starts and two relief appearances for the Twins this season.

Santana was clipped on the left wrist by a runner at first base during the final play of Thursday’s game against the Rays, but didn’t end up needing X-rays afterwards. It’s possible he’ll get a day or two off heading into the weekend, but it appears he’s avoided serious injury.

Funderburk has been out since late July recovering from an oblique strain. He won’t be eligible to return until at least late September, if at all.

Julien scorched a blast with two runners on off Taj Bradley to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead in the second inning. The 25-year-old has homered eight times while driving in 21 runs over 82 games. Julien has been a disappointment in 2024, but he isn’t far removed from showing considerable promise in 2023. He’s a bounceback candidate for 2025.

Duran was excellent Thursday with a pair of strikeouts and throwing 10-of-12 pitches for strikes. The right-hander is now up to 22 saves on the season, and the scoreless frame lowers his ERA to 3.45. Duran will occasionally have some blips where his command fails him, but there aren’t many hurlers with better stuff — reliever or otherwise.

López surrendered a two-run single to Junior Caminero in the third and a ground-rule double that scored a run in the seventh by Yandy Diaz. Outside of that the 28-year-old hurler was solid; throwing 62-of-91 pitches for strikes and issuing just one walk against the aforementioned nine punchouts. López has been sensational as of late, and while this start did see his scoreless innings streak come to an end, this would qualify as a quality outing for sure. He should do numbers against the Angels on Wednesday.

Buxton was also ejected in the third inning from that rehab game after arguing a pitch clock violation called on him. However, the bigger news is obviously the renewed hip discomfort since it seemed like the veteran OF was set to be activated off the IL on Friday. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said that Buxton “didn’t feel the way that he needed to feel in the game in order for him to come back and return right now. We’ll see how he’s doing over the next 24, 48 [hours] and then we’ll have more to talk about...Before we know what we’re dealing with, it’s going to be hard for anyone to really comment on it.” Given Buxton’s long history with injuries, the team needing time to figure out what they’re dealing with sounds a bit ominous, but we’ll wait for more information before making any recommendations. For now, it would be wise to not expect him back with the Twins this weekend.

With Max Kepler (knee) landing on the IL, the Twins will give the 27-year-old Keirsey Jr. a shot on the active roster. He was hitting .292 with 14 homers, 75 RBI, and 69 runs scored in 103 games at Triple-A and will likely serve as a left-handed bat off the bench for the Twins while Kepler is out. If Keirsey Jr. were to get into a game, it would be his MLB debut.

Kepler was not written into today’s lineup, which would have been his fourth missed start in a row, so the Twins made the call to place him on the IL. They don’t seem concerned that he’ll be out for an extended period, but it should mean more regular playing time for Austin Martin, who will play center field when the Twins shift Willi Castro into the infield and give Brooks Lee time off. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was called up to take Kepler’s spot on the active roster.

This is now the fourth straight game that Kepler has missed with knee soreness. The Twins claim it’s not a major injury, but it’s not a great sign that he hasn’t yet gotten into the starting lineup. Austin Martin will start in center field and bat ninth with Matt Wallner sliding over the right field.