Pineda scratched, plus Twins' rotation in flux

MINNEAPOLIS -- Michael Pineda was scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday after he underwent a procedure to remove an abscess from his inner thigh area, manager Rocco Baldelli said. The Twins have not yet made a determination as to whether Pineda will require a stint on the injured list.

The club called up right-hander Bailey Ober, the No. 23 prospect in the organization per MLB Pipeline, to make his Major League debut as its starter in Tuesday's contest against the White Sox.

Pineda has been dealing with the abscess in an "uncomfortable spot" for some time, Baldelli said, and required stitches in the area. The Twins expect him to start throwing again on Thursday, and they'll decide at that point whether he'll need additional time to recover.

"It’s not anything muscular-related, not arm-related, it’s nothing like that," Baldelli said. "This is just one of those types of things that pops up, and I’m hoping to talk about it more as an inconvenience than anything else. He’s a little uncomfortable right now, and rightfully so. But something I think we can definitely work through."

The issue with Pineda is poorly timed for the Twins because Kenta Maeda has also been dealing with groin tightness that flared up during his start against the A's on Sunday, and Minnesota is also waiting to see if he'll be able to make his next start as planned.

Maeda was supposed to throw a bullpen to test his health on Tuesday but only played catch instead, something that Baldelli said wasn't a concern to him.

"Some of what we’re going to do with Kenta is going to be related to how he feels physically, but also knowing that he’s dealing with something," Baldelli said. "Knowing kind of the state of our bullpen and how much our guys have had to throw, we have to evaluate just what he’s going to be capable of when he takes the mound."

The Twins' rotation concerns are exacerbated by the fact that they are in the middle of a stretch of 17 games in 16 days, including Thursday's rescheduled doubleheader in Anaheim that wiped out what would otherwise have been an off-day. One of their depth starters, Devin Smeltzer, is on the IL with left elbow inflammation, and they had to use Ober on Tuesday.

Anderson to IL; Stashak recalled

The Twins' rotation situation also comes at a bad time for the bullpen, which has been stretched by a pair of short starts on Sunday and Monday, doesn't include a true long reliever, and saw Shaun Anderson hit the IL on Tuesday with a left quad strain.

The Twins also designated veteran right-hander Derek Law for assignment. Ober and right-hander Cody Stashak were recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to take the two roster spots.

Anderson had helped the Twins weather the increased need for bullpen length by throwing 50 pitches over the last two games. He allowed four runs in two innings on Monday and has a 9.00 ERA through five appearances with Minnesota.

"We could tell he was a little uncomfortable," Baldelli said. "We could tell there was something going on, but he pitched through it. Truthfully, he kind of manned up. We needed him to pitch through it in that situation."

Stashak was expected to be a core member of the Twins' bullpen but struggled to an 8.44 ERA through 12 appearances and was optioned to Triple-A twice during the first month and a half of the regular season -- though he has 19 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings.

Duran activated by Triple-A Saints

The good news for the Twins is that more rotation reinforcements might not be too far away.

The most significant of those knocking at the door took an important step on Tuesday, when top pitching prospect Jhoan Duran, ranked No. 5 in the organization, was activated by Triple-A St. Paul after the start of his season was slowed due to trapezius tightness during spring camp.

MLB Pipeline has Duran ranked as the No. 86 overall prospect in baseball, and he's the second-highest pitching prospect in the system behind Jordan Balazovic, who is still working his way back from a back injury.

Duran spent the entire 2020 season at the Twins' alternate training site and is already on the 40-man roster. He had a 3.76 ERA with 136 strikeouts in 115 innings in Class A Advanced and Double-A in his last game action in '19.