MINNEAPOLIS -- Fear not: La Tortuga is back on his feet.

Multipositional do-it-all man Willians Astudillo ran five sprints on the field before Wednesday night's game against the Astros at Target Field, his first time running since he sustained a left hamstring strain last Saturday. He said that the hamstring feels good, and he expects to run again and swing on Thursday and take ground balls on Friday.

"I think the progress is going well," Astudillo said. "I'm feeling good. I don't see why not, next week, I'm going to be ready to come back."

Manager Rocco Baldelli struck a more cautious tone and said that the Twins aren't necessarily trying to ramp up Astudillo's recovery to have him ready to go after the minimum 10-day stay on the injured list. But Baldelli also noted that the injury was not as serious as many hamstring injuries that he had seen, and that Astudillo should be ready to return sooner rather than later.

"He always says he feels really, really good, whether he's healthy or not healthy," Baldelli said. "I think he's going to be fine. I can't tell you that it's going to be 10 days and no rehab. I can tell you that ... unless there's some sort of setback, it doesn't seem like something that's going to last for weeks and weeks or anything like that."

Astudillo, who sustained the hamstring strain against the Orioles while sprinting down the line as he scored on a sacrifice fly, went on the 10-day injured list on Sunday and is eligible to be reinstated May 8, the date of the series finale against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Baldelli confirmed that Astudillo will travel with the team on the road trip that begins Friday against the Yankees, citing a mutual desire from both player and team to keep him with the group, especially considering the short-term nature of the injury.

#SanoWatch
Miguel Sanó began his rehab assignment with Class A Advanced Fort Myers on Tuesday, playing third base for five innings and going 0-for-1 with a walk and hit by pitch. He was also scheduled to play Wednesday, but Fort Myers' scheduled contest against Clearwater was postponed due to rain. He is expected to play again on Thursday.

Top prospects to be reinstated from injured list soon
Minor League prospects Nick Gordon (Triple-A Rochester) and Alex Kirilloff (Double-A Pensacola) are expected to be activated off the injured list in the next several days. Gordon, the Twins' No. 10 prospect per MLB Pipeline, has been dealing with gastrointestinal issues, while Kirilloff, the Twins' No. 2 prospect and No. 8 prospect in baseball, was sidelined with a wrist injury after he had earned his first invitation to Major League Spring Training.