FORT MYERS, Fla. -- During his first Spring Training with the Twins back in 2006, Brian Duensing was told that his best shot of making it to the big leagues would probably be in a relief role.

Now Duensing, who has been a starter for nearly his entire professional career, might be getting just that opportunity.

With Jose Mijares' struggles this spring, Minnesota is exploring other options for a second left-hander to complement Craig Breslow in the bullpen. That means the team will give a longer look to Duensing and non-roster invitee Sean Henn.

"We're going to mix him in there," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Duensing. "We told him we're going to start getting him some consistent innings out of the bullpen."

Mijares had another difficult outing on Friday against the Yankees, giving up two runs on three hits over one inning. The left-hander often fell behind batters and gave up a home run to the first batter he faced in the eighth inning on a 3-1 pitch. Mijares has posted an 11.37 ERA in 6 1/3 innings this spring, and the coaching staff has acknowledged that the ball is not coming out of his hand like it did during his September callup.

"What we need to do is get him straightened out right here," Gardenhire said. "He's a pretty good arm, and if we can figure this out, we'll be a better baseball team. So we're going to try it that way first."

While the Twins try to fix Mijares, they will start taking a longer look at Duensing, who has posted a 1.12 ERA over five appearances (eight innings) this spring. The team has not been afraid to shift starters into a relief role, much like it did with Glen Perkins who moved to a relief role during a September callup in 2006. He remained there for the start of the '07 season before getting injured.

A third-round pick of Minnesota in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Duensing said that his only real experience in a relief role came last summer when he pitched for Team USA in the Olympics. Duensing has made 93 career Minor League appearances for the Twins, and 88 of those have been starts.

"The only thing I had trouble with was how much to throw to get ready," Duensing said. "As a starter, you obviously have as much time as you need. That's probably the biggest problem -- not wearing myself out. I think I did that once already this spring, too. I can't remember who we were pitching against, but I wore myself out and was really fighting it out on the mound. Still, so far, it's been a good transition."

And while the chance to make the team means adjusting to a new role, the 26-year-old is gladly taking whatever opportunity he might get to start the year in Minnesota.

"The fact that they are giving me a shot and it seems like a pretty legit shot, it's exciting," Duensing said. "It makes you want to work even harder. I'll just try to do what I can."

Roster shuffle: The Twins trimmed their roster by three on Friday -- with catcher Wilson Ramos and pitchers Mike Gosling and Kevin Mulvey moving on.

Ramos, who is on the 40-man roster, was optioned to Double-A New Britain, while Gosling and Mulvey were both reassigned to Minor League camp.

The 21-year-old catcher turned some heads during Major League camp with both his bat and his strong arm behind the plate. And with Joe Mauer's status uncertain, Gardenhire said it was a little "tempting" to think about keeping him around.

But with Ramos having played at Class A Fort Myers last season, Gardenhire said that the club knew the best thing was to have him get more experience before even considering him for a big league role.

"Ramos is one of those guys where you see where we are at [catching-wise] right now, and [keeping him] is very tempting," Gardenhire said. "But we all know that he probably needs a little bit more catching down in the Minor Leagues. He gets a little sloppy at times. ... It's not the right thing. So we'll go at it from there."

Without Ramos in the mix, the Twins will look to Jose Morales and Drew Butera as options for the backup catching role if Mauer is not ready for Opening Day.

Flu bug biting: First baseman Justin Morneau was scratched from Friday's lineup with a case of the flu.

Gardenhire said the flu has been going around the clubhouse and outfielder David Winfree was also sent home on Friday. Morneau will not travel with the team on Saturday to Clearwater, Fla., as Gardenhire said he'll give the first baseman a day or two to recover from the illness.