Twins option Santana, will recall Vargas from Triple-A

The Minnesota Twins optioned shortstop Danny Santana to Triple-A Rochester after the 24-year-old stumbled through another hitless performance in a 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Target Field on Sunday afternoon.

Despite an .824 OPS (129 OPS+) over 101 games as a rookie last season, Santana struggled mightily through the first two months of 2015. Heading into Sunday's series finale, Santana had hit just .217/.235/.291 with no home runs through 48 games while going just 1-for-19 (.053) over his previous seven contests.

"We've talked a lot of late about the bar he set and he's been really trying to get back to that situation offensively," Twins manager Paul Molitor told MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger. "He's just a kid who has fun when he's playing well and it hasn't been very pleasurable for him as of late. You can see the struggles. So remove the burden of getting hits for a while, and obviously it's what you want to do, but it's a different spotlight."

In a corresponding move, the Twins will recall first baseman Kennys Vargas from Rochester to take Santana's spot on the 25-man roster.

Much like Santana, Vargas enjoyed an auspicious MLB debut last summer but struggled to replicate his performance through the nascent stages of 2015. The 24-year-old managed just a .657 OPS with three home runs and 30 strikeouts through 29 games before being optioned to Triple-A on May 17. In 17 games with Rochester Vargas hit .320/.407/.540 with three home runs, two doubles, and eight walks.