Three P's in a post: Plouffe, Polanco, Perkins

Trevor Plouffe went on paternity leave after Tuesday's game; the baby, to be born today, will be the first for the infielder and and his wife Olivia. Jorge Polanco gets the brief callup.

Today was the first game since hurting his ankle that Sano didn't wrap it. Ran the bases better today, took infield before the game.

— Derek Wetmore (@DerekWetmore) July 29, 2015

If Miguel Sano's ankle is good to go, this presents an opportunity to give the rookie some time at third base. That would be ideal from a development standpoint. But the Twins very much need his bat in the lineup -- Mike Melancon, a quality closer, pitched around Sano in the ninth last night, which underlined how quickly Sano has gotten the reputation of being difficult to pitch to -- and they have other options for third base if the ankle is at risk.

As for Polanco: My normal take on this kind of thing is, if's he's gonna be in the majors, play him. The Twins now have four supposed shortstops on the roster (Eduardo Escobar, Eduardo Nunez, Polanco and Danny Santana) and nobody they really feel comfortable with at the spot. Tuesday was Escobar's first start at shortstop in more than a week and only his second since July 3; he had a big double in the eighth-inning rally and made some good plays in the field. I would be fine with giving him sustained playing time there, even if that means Polanco sits during this callup.

Glen Perkins has had four appearances since the All-Star break. He has given up at least a run in three of those outings with two losses and two blown saves. He says he's fine, and we should take his word for that, but it's also worth remembering that he said the same thing late last year before finally admitting that there was a problem and the Twins shut him down for the final weeks.