MINNEAPOLIS -- Rookie slugger Michael Cuddyer has picked a fine time to get hot. The right fielder and third baseman entered Friday having hit safely in six of his last seven games. He's 9-for-22 (.409) in that stretch with two doubles, a homer and two RBIs.

Cuddyer got his fifth start in a row, batting seventh and playing right field, in manager Ron Gardenhire's lineup Friday vs. the White Sox.

"It's hard to take the kid out when he's banging the ball all over the ballpark," Gardenhire said. "If a guy is starting to get hot, this is the right time to do it and he's doing it. This is what we brought him up here for. We thought he could hit."

After seeing him knock out 30 home runs last year in Double-A and 20 more homers this season in Triple-A, the Twins knew Cuddyer was ready for the Major Leagues. But the results were slow to come at the next level over two call-ups in July and August. His overall batting average hovered near .200 much of the time, only elevating to .240 in the last week.

Cuddyer has continued to take early batting practice, worked on shortening his swing and worked himself into more hitter's counts. He attributes some of the improvement on his increasing confidence.

"I'm confident that I can go up there and get hits in situations where I need hits," Cuddyer said. "I feel good up there and I'm seeing the ball well and taking good approaches."

When Cuddyer received his second promotion of the season from the minors Aug. 31, it was to assure him a place on Minnesota's postseason roster. It was expected that he'd be a hitter off the bench for Gardenhire. The manager left open the possibility of increasing the rookie's role.

"If it remains that way, we'll see what happens in the playoffs," Gardenhire said. "We're going to put the best lineup out there."

Like many of the young players on the Twins that show an eagerness to contribute, Cuddyer is ambivalent about what his role could be.

"If he calls on me to start, that's great," Cuddyer said. "If he calls on me to come off the bench to help the team, that's fine too. Whatever I can do to help this team get the victories."

On Friday, Cuddyer went 0-for-2 before being replaced by Dustan Mohr in the sixth inning.