KANSAS CITY -- The Royals placed first baseman Lucas Duda on the 10-day injured list on Friday because of a lumbar strain and recalled infielder Kelvin Gutierrez from Triple-A Omaha.

“This just snuck up on us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He came in and walked through the training room and he was on the table. I didn’t think anything of it. But after early work, [trainer] Nick [Kenney] came in and said that Lucas’ back was bothering him and we needed to get an MRI and maybe an epidural. And that’s exactly what we ended up doing.

“I don’t think it’s severe. I told him we had to put him on the [injured list]. With [Hunter] Dozier’s back issues, I wouldn’t have any coverage. We got to do it.”

Gutierrez, 24, was slashing .333/.443/.439 at Omaha with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 18 games. He was acquired last June from Washington along with outfielder Blake Perkins and pitcher Yohanse Morel in the Kelvin Herrera trade.

Duda was hitting .174 with two home runs and eight RBIs in 18 games.