CHICAGO - Outfielder Rondell White walked around the visitors' clubhouse on Sunday with a bit of a slow step. Watching him move, it was clear that his right leg was still quite tender.

White injured his right calf when he skipped out onto the field for pregame warmups just before Saturday's game. Diagnosed with a mild calf strain, White said that he spent the rest of Saturday night icing the muscle and trying to take it easy, but there was no doubt that the calf was still bothering him.

"It's better than yesterday, but it's still up in the air," White said of when he might be able to return. "So it's day-to-day. It's just ice, stem machine and we'll see how I feel in the morning."

White didn't take batting practice Sunday and was not even available off the bench in an emergency. The outfielder said that he tried to take it easy on Saturday night and ice his calf as much as possible.

The 35-year-old has had his share of muscle pulls and strains over the past few seasons. Last year, a strained left hamstring caused White to be put on the disabled list, although it was more to do with the Twins needing an extra player that could run than White needing that much time to recover.

White worked out extremely hard this offseason to try to remain in top physical condition. And while the injury itself is frustrating, White hopes that the extra work will help speed up his recovery time.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire wasn't optimistic that White would be able to return to the lineup Monday, as Gardenhire feels this is the type of injury that will take some time to heal.

"We'll know more when we get home out of the cold weather here and see how much he can and can't do," Gardenhire said. "Obviously, he's sore. So it looks like it will be at least a couple of days."

The absence of White left the Twins with a short bench for Sunday's game. Infielder Jeff Cirillo has been limited to just pinch-hitting over the weekend as he is coming off a cortisone injection for a sore left knee. Cirillo pinch-hit in Saturday's game, striking out in his only at-bat.

With the club facing a left-handed pitcher in Chicago's John Danks, backup catcher Mike Redmond was slotted into the designated hitter spot. That left only Chris Heintz, Luis Rodriguez and Jason Kubel as options off the bench.

"It's thin," Gardenhire said of his bench. "Speed is not really an asset on the bench at the moment."

Injury update: The only other injury concern for the Twins involved right-handed pitcher Juan Rincon.

Rincon woke up with a stiff neck on Saturday morning and was unavailable for the club's first game against the White Sox. Rincon arrived at the park on Sunday saying that the neck was feeling better, but it was uncertain before game time if Rincon would be available to pitch

"He's still looking a little weary-eyed there," Gardenhire said. "We'll know as the game moves along if he loosens up a little and I can put him in out there. It's a game-time decision."

Multiple 42s: It won't just be Torii Hunter who will don the No. 42 next Sunday, when the league honors the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's Major League debut.

White and first-base coach Jerry White will also take part in the celebration. The league made the decision to allow multiple players and coaches on each club to wear the retired number in honor of the event.

"That's a great honor," White said. "I was honored that Gardy called me in and asked me if I wanted to wear it. I want to make sure I get to keep that jersey, too."

Down on the farm: Outfielder Garrett Jones went 3-for-5 with three RBIs in helping Triple-A Rochester to a 12-11 win over Ottawa on Saturday afternoon. Left-hander Mike Venafro gave up five runs on six hits over two innings. ... Double-A New Britain lost its season opener to New Hampshire, 7-6, as starter Nick Blackburn and Anthony Swarzak combined to give up six earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Catcher Korey Feiner went 3-for-4 in the game with two RBIs. ... Left-hander Alexander Smit continued his trend of slow starts to a season as he gave up four runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, as Class A Fort Myers lost at Sarasota, 7-6. Toby Gardenhire was 2-for-4 with an RBI in the loss. ... Jeff Manship allowed just one run over 5 2/3 innings and struck out six in Class A Beloit's 2-1 victory over Cedar Rapids.

Twins tidbits: The decision to use Redmond at DH, was, in part, to get the right-hander some at-bats as he had yet to play in a game prior to Sunday. The team's schedule of three straight night games to open the year hadn't required Redmond to start behind the plate, and with two straight day games in Chicago over the weekend, Joe Mauer was able to catch Johan Santana on Sunday, too. ... The Twins' three-hit effort in Saturday's game was only the third time since the start of the 2006 season that the club had delivered three or fewer hits in a game. ... Luis Castillo was the only Twins player to hit safely in each of the team's first four games.

Coming up: The Twins will get their first look at right-hander Sidney Ponson in the rotation on Monday as the pitcher will make his first regular-season start for the club against the Yankees. Ponson will face off against Yankees right-hander Carl Pavano in the 6:10 p.m. CT start.