Twins won’t get Ervin Santana back until June, says manager Paul Molitor

Twins manager Paul Molitor told WCCO Radio Thursday morning that Ervin Santana is expected to return to the Twins’ starting rotation in early June. 

Paul Molitor just told @RadioDaveLee that @ErvinSantana_54 and @trevmay65 are both progressing well, and will be back in EARLY JUNE. #MNTwins

— The Morning News With Vineeta Sawkar (@TMNwithVineeta) May 3, 2018

That’s a month beyond the original 10-12 week timeline the Twins gave when they announced that Santana needed surgery to alleviate discomfort in the middle finger of his right hand. 

Related: 

– Sano joins Buxton on Twins disabled list

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Santana was an All-Star for the Twins in 2017 and he was expected to anchor a much improved starting rotation in 2018, but his injury coupled with struggles by free agent acquisition Lance Lynn (0-3, 8.37 ERA) made the rotation more unreliable than expected. 

The Twins got a breath of fresh air Wednesday from rookie Fernando Romero when he pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings to help the Twins win for just the third time in their last 15 games.