The Twins sent catcher Jose Morales to Class AAA Rochester following today’s game to make room for reliever Jesse Crain to come off the disabled list, even though Morales was batting .340.

Morales went 1-for-4 in today’s 7-5 loss to the Royals, but Mike Redmond’s right shoulder felt much better during a pregame throwing drill, and Joe Mauer returned from the DL on Friday.

By activating Crain and demoting Morales, the Twins returned to having 12 pitchers and two catchers on their 25-man roster.

“You’ve got to understand the situation,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “[Morales] came into spring training probably going to be a Triple-A catcher and because Joe Mauer was hurt, he’s been here, and he’s handled himself fine.

“But is he a perfect catcher? No. He’s thrown out one runner in [14 stolen base attempts]. We’ve missed some balls, catching-wise — a little sloppy still. Has he done a good job? Yes. He’s handled himself very well in the absence of Joe. But if you think there’s nothing he needs to work on, we’re all wrong.”

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