ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. >> As the calendar neared September last year, the Twins started transitioning Louie Varland to a bullpen role they thought could best help them down the stretch and in the postseason. Almost a year later, the Twins are in a similar situation with Varland, once again preparing him to be “pitching in some different roles,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Varland joined the team in Florida on Tuesday and was officially added to the roster on Wednesday morning. He wound up throwing 2 1/3 innings in relief after giving up eight runs in a poor defensive fourth inning.

In a stretch of 13 games without an off day, the Twins inserted Varland to give each of their starters an extra day of rest. Having him come out of the bullpen with Ronny Henriquez starting the game allowed them to continue helping him adjust to coming on in relief, which he also did in his last Triple-A outing with the Saints.

“I have a lot of experience with it now,” Varland said. “It’s nothing new.”

It’s possible the Twins would have made this transition slightly earlier had Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack remained healthy. Instead, the Twins tapped into their starting pitching depth by adding rookies David Festa and Zebby Matthews to the rotation.

Thus far, they’ve kept Varland stretched out in case anyone in the current rotation — Pablo López, Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson, Matthews and Festa — gets hurt or is unable to go.

“You know that you have to hold onto good arms, guys that can start for you and go out there and give you five or six innings in a ballgame,” Baldelli said. “You have to have those guys and you can’t deplete your organizational staff, your depth, of those guys to move guys to the ‘pen early on.

“Is it possible that if things went a little bit smoother that he could have found his way into different roles earlier? I do think it’s possible.”

The Twins liked what they saw from Varland down the stretch last year out of the bullpen — in seven regular-season games, he gave up two runs in 12 innings (1.50 earned-run average), striking out 17 — and could utilize him similarly this year.

While the Twins have not said what they expect his role to look like beyond Wednesday, Baldelli said the rough outing will not change their plans.

“That will not factor in any meaningful way as far as what we’re going to do with Lou,” Baldelli said. “We have some ideas as far as what we’d like to do with our pitching staff. We’ll talk about that in the coming days. But that doesn’t affect us, no.”

Lewis starts at second

Royce Lewis made his first career start at second base on Wednesday, days after he shifted over there late in a game for the first time.

Lewis, who made an error throwing home as part of the eight-run inning, has expressed some apprehension about making the move midseason, but the Twins speak often about their desire for their players to be versatile and talk of challenging them by putting them into different spots. Baldelli said he doesn’t expect to see Lewis there most games, but this is the next step after all the early work he’s put in.

“We’re not asking him to go out there and be the Gold Glove Award-winning second baseman this year,” Baldelli said. “We’re just asking him to go out there, work hard, pay attention, improve and make the plays that he’s expecting himself and we’re expecting him to make. I think that would be a great start for him.”

Briefly

Byron Buxton (hip) was supposed to play all nine innings in center field in his rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints on Wednesday but was ejected after striking out to end the third. Baldelli said they would evaluate “everything that went down and talk amongst ourselves as a group before we decide what’s going on next.” … Max Kepler remained out of the starting lineup on Wednesday as he deals with left knee soreness. He was scratched from Monday’s lineup and has not appeared in the series in Tampa Bay. … The Twins held their annual fantasy football draft on Tuesday night at their team hotel. Ober grabbed San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey with the first overall pick. Vikings superstar receiver Justin Jefferson went to Lewis with the No. 4 pick. … López will start the series finale for the Twins against Tampa Bay.