Duensing lands on DL, Twins recall Thielbar

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins placed left-handed reliever Brian Duensing on the 15-day disabled list with a right intercostal strain on Friday, and recalled fellow left-hander Caleb Thielbar from Triple-A Rochester to take his place on the roster.

Duensing said he felt something in his side while pitching on Monday, and it worsened while pitching in the ninth inning of Thursday's game against the Royals. The lefty struggled in the outing, allowing two runs on three hits while recording just one out. It caused Duensing's ERA to rise to 7.36 in 3 2/3 innings this season.

"Yesterday was the first time I really felt a pinch," Duensing said. "That's the best way I can explain it. I knew it was more serious than I thought it was originally."

But Duensing, who had never been on the DL in his seven-year career, said the injury is still considered minor, and that he expects to be activated once his 15 days are up. The plan is for him to a rest for a bit before starting a throwing program.

"We should be able to go within the 15-day DL time frame," Duensing said. "I think we'll take a week to take it easy and then I'll start throwing a baseball and see how it feels. But we're feeling pretty positive because we were able to keep it at bay for three days without any pain, and so if we give it time to wind down, we should be all right."

Thielbar was a mainstay in Minnesota's bullpen the last two seasons, but didn't make the club after struggling in Spring Training. He threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings for Rochester before being called up.

Thielbar, 28, has a career 2.59 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 93 2/3 innings with the Twins. He had a 3.40 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings last year, but had a 4.15 ERA in the second half of the season.

Left-hander Aaron Thompson still remains ahead of Thielbar on the depth chart and will take Duensing's previous role as a late-inning lefty.

"We're going to have to make some adjustments," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "I thought with Cleveland's lineup and their personnel, calling up a lefty up here was the right thing to do. So we did that with Thielbar."