Phil Hughes gave up three runs in just three innings in his return to the Twins pitching rotation Tuesday night – and his short stay in the game has reportedly made his stint in the rotation a brief one, too.
According to the Pioneer Press, the Twins will skip Hughes’ next scheduled start Sunday against the Angels in order to give the righthander more time to work his way back from a herniated disc in his lower back.
Instead, Minnesota will go with rookie Tyler Duffey (3-1), according to Twins manager Paul Molitor.
“I think I had to find out where Phil was at,” Molitor told the newspaper Wednesday. “Given the fact he probably hasn’t had the opportunity to get back to form 100 percent in terms of preparation time, it’s probably not fair to him or probably the team, so we’re going to run Duffey out there Sunday.”
Hughes hadn’t pitched in a game since Aug. 9.
He was somewhat disappointed in his outing, admitting afterwards that he wasn’t at his best. Hughes knows the team needs to worry about the wild card race first.
#Twins starter Phil Hughes and manager Paul Molitor talk about Hughes' loss Tuesday in first game back from back i… http://t.co/wrP648GyCe
— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) September 16, 2015
Phil Hughes didn't surrender a HR last night, for the first time since July 24 #MNTwins
— Ted (@tlschwerz) September 16, 2015
Molitor says the Twins won’t start him for the remainder of the home stand, but they haven’t ruled out a possible relief appearance this weekend.
There were a couple of other notes on the Twins pitching staff as well, Wednesday.
Glen Perkins said his bullpen session went well and that he's on track to return on Friday.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) September 16, 2015
Ricky Nolasco also threw a bullpen. He'll face hitters in simulated game on Friday and then will pitch in instructional league on Monday.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) September 16, 2015
