KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While waiting to learn the severity of the leg injury to outfielder Danny Santana, the Twins promoted outfielder Max Kepler from Triple-A Rochester.
Santana suffered a strained right hamstring while playing center field Saturday night and left in the sixth inning and was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
“We’ll be optimistic that no tears are involved,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “A lot of times the first day or two, 48 hours, you get a little better idea of the severity of the strain, slight pull or whatever you want to call it. We put him on the DL so we would have at least 15 days to know.”
Molitor indicated Santana would undergo further medical examinations when the club returns Monday to Minnesota.
Santana hit .167 in four games before the injury.
“We also saw in spring training, when Danny’s playing relaxed baseball, he’s a disruptive player on the offensive side, both being that he’s a switch hitter, the short game, the base running, and, so, it’s tough to replace that. He’s got a little bit of a unique gift set as far as how we want to use him.”
Molitor said the German-born Kepler would primarily be used as a defensive replacement and possibly as a pinch-runner.
“You’ve got to find the right time to give him the opportunity to contribute, but there’s no question I will consider using him late in defensive situations,” Molitor said.