Castro (oblique) lands on IL as López nears return, Lewis awaits rehab stint

MINNEAPOLIS – The Twins announced a series of transactions on Thursday morning, but the biggest news is set to come Friday.

That’s when right-hander Pablo López is scheduled to return from the injured list, and third baseman Royce Lewis is slated to begin a Minor League rehabilitation assignment. López has been out since April 8 due to a strained right hamstring, while Lewis has not played since mid-March as the result of a strained left hamstring.

Prior to Thursday’s rain-shortened 3-0 loss to the White Sox, Minnesota placed utility man Willi Castro on the 10-day injured list with a strained right oblique, recalled infielder/catcher Mickey Gasper from Triple-A St. Paul and optioned right-hander David Festa to St. Paul. Castro is expected to miss an additional 10 days or so beyond the time he has already been out.

That leaves an open roster spot, and while the club didn’t make the transaction on Thursday, the move will be to activate López. The right-hander will start Friday night’s series opener against the Angels.

Lewis remains much farther away, but his advancing to playing in games is big news. He has ramped up his activity in recent days and will now begin testing his recovery in game settings.

“He’ll have to build up,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “He’ll start playing parts of games and build himself up. He’ll DH some. He’ll play third. He’s going to have to go out and play, get to the point where he’s played at least a couple of games, full nine-inning games, over at third base before he’s ready to go. But there’s a whole plan set up for him and it starts tomorrow. so that’s great news. We look forward to getting him back.”

Castro, who turned 28 on Thursday, had not appeared in a game since experiencing tightness in his oblique on April 16. The club had hoped to avoid placing him on the IL, but he continued to feel discomfort when swinging left-handed, and so the decision was made to shelve him. Castro said that he will take a break from most baseball activities for a couple of days before ramping back up again.

“It's kind of weird,” Castro said. “I know that right-handed doesn't bother me. Left-handed does. I can swing left-handed, but I feel if I do my game swing, it's going to get tight or tighter than it is. But I can catch ground balls, I can throw, I can hit right-handed. I can run.”

Castro is a key cog in the Twins’ offensive and defensive alignments, able to play five positions regularly and at least two others in a pinch. He’s also a switch-hitter, allowing Baldelli a great deal of lineup flexibility when he is available. The bulk of his at-bats since the injury have gone to rookie Luke Keaschall, who has split time at second base and designated hitter with Edouard Julien. That arrangement figures to continue while Castro is on the IL, with Gasper serving as a bench bat and emergency catcher.

Festa made three starts in López’s absence, pitching well each time but not finishing the fifth inning in any of his starts. He will return to the rotation at St. Paul while López resumes his place atop the Twins’ starting five.

“I think it was a successful run for [Festa], and I think we’re going to see him again,” said Baldelli. “I would assume he’s going to make a fair number of starts for us this year. But having that depth will help. You’re going to see that over time.”