The Twins have seen a far different Cody Stashak this season than the rookie who burst on the scene in 2019, said he hated walking opposing batters, and confidently backed that up with a 25-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

So, when he was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on Saturday, they didn't have a typical Minor League stint in mind for him and will largely keep him out of game action for a "reset," manager Rocco Baldelli said. The Twins selected the contract of veteran reliever Juan Minaya and designated right-hander Dakota Chalmers for assignment.

"The best part about it is Cody's on board with it and completely acknowledges the need to go out there and have this reset to go work and focus on these selective things and then hopefully get himself where he wants to be," Baldelli said.

Most of Stashak's work will come in bullpen sessions on the side, where the Twins hope he can focus on locating his slider as part of both physical and mental execution work they hope to see from the 26-year-old who was expected to take the next step and become a key arm in the bullpen. But he has been a significant part of its struggles thus far.

Stashak pitched the seventh and eighth innings in Friday's loss to the Royals, allowing all three of his inherited runners to score in the seventh before bouncing back for an eight-pitch, two-strikeout inning in the eighth.

As that eighth inning suggested, Stashak definitely has big league stuff, and that's further backed up by his 26 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings this season. But that spike in his strikeout rate has also been accompanied by an even steeper rise in his once-miniscule walk rate, leading to many of his issues this season.

"Both the physical aspect of syncing up his delivery, but also the mental aspect of really focusing each pitch out there, having a plan and then bringing it out there and executing it," Baldelli said. "That's different for every guy. That could do with a lot of different things to increase your level of focus and execution."

Baldelli specifically mentioned Stashak's slider as an area of focus. Hitters haven't been doing much damage against it this season, slugging only .265 with no homers and a 50.6 percent whiff rate against the offering. But he also hasn't been able to throw the pitch to his glove side with the consistency the Twins had seen in the past, which will be important for his continued success.

Stashak's success is important to that of the bullpen as a whole. The Twins hoped to rely on both him and Caleb Thielbar in more meaningful settings this season due to the large exodus of high-leverage arms from last season's bullpen, but have been unable to do that thus far -- compounded by early struggles from Alex Colomé and Tyler Duffey.

Getting Stashak back to the pitcher who posted a 3.15 ERA from 2019-20 will go a long way.

"Getting him to the point where he returns not just as the old Cody Stashak, but as a better version of Cody Stashak, that's what we're looking for here," Baldelli said.

Arraez to miss 'at least a couple of weeks'

A tough injury situation got even worse for the Twins on Saturday, when Baldelli said that utility man Luis Arraez was showing signs of a subluxation in his right shoulder that is expected to keep him out for "at least a couple of weeks."

Arraez actually played through the injury last Saturday after he hurt the shoulder on an awkward slide into second base on a steal attempt, but the Twins placed him on the IL due to the pain and have now had additional tests show more damage than expected.

"The imaging that we had showed some signal there, and we need to make sure that we take a step back and make sure that we allow him to heal and rehab this properly," Baldelli said.

The news is particularly tough for Minnesota's outfield depth, which is already managing injuries to Byron Buxton, Jake Cave and Max Kepler and having to play Rob Refsnyder out of position in center field for the foreseeable future.

Refsnyder likely won't play infield

The Twins have seen a surprising level of contribution from Refsnyder, their emergency center fielder who had never played the position as a big leaguer before he was pushed into action this season. He had played plenty in the infield, though, with second base serving as his most common position in both the Majors and Minors.

But Refsnyder indicated when he was first called up by the Twins that he expected his focus to be exclusively in the outfield -- and Baldelli confirmed that's where it will stay.

"I think Ref focusing on playing all three outfield spots will probably put him in the best position to help us right now," Baldelli said.

It is a noteworthy question considering the Twins' depleted middle-infield depth at the moment, with Arraez on the injured list, Jorge Polanco playing through right ankle soreness, No. 1 prospect Royce Lewis lost for the season with a torn ACL and the club seemingly hesitant to give Nick Gordon consistent playing time.

Still, Baldelli said the Twins would likely rely on Gordon and Willians Astudillo to fill the gaps up the middle, even considering the Twins' outfield logjam. The Twins could still keep Refsnyder and his .368/.419/.605 line on the roster moving forward due to his ability to back up all three outfield spots, which is a role Jake Cave had held before he was placed on the 60-day IL with a stress reaction in his lower back.