The Minnesota Twins are pulling Samuel Deduno from the starting rotation after his latest struggles.
Deduno will go to the bullpen and Yohan Pino will replace him in the rotation. Pino will make his debut on Thursday against the White Sox.
Deduno had another ugly outing on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers. He has made just eight starts since his promotion from the bullpen in early May.
On the season, Deduno has a 5.39 ERA in 57 1/3 innings. He has struck out 41 and walked 28, but has looked more erratic in his recent starts.
According to 1500 ESPN, Pino has been outstanding at Triple-A Rochester this season. The 30-year-old has posted a 9-1 record with a 1.92 ERA in 14 games, including seven starts for the Red Wings. He has struck out 61 and walked just 16 in 61 innings at Rochester.
“He’s been pitching fantastic, along with three or four other guys down there,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told the Star Tribune. “Throwing the ball very well, great ERA, the whole package. You could have had your choices down there and this is who [the front office] decided they want to give a shot to. We’ll see how it goes. Exciting for him, first time in the big leagues. Pretty cool.”
Pino is not on either the 25-man or the 40-man roster, so the Twins will have to make a few roster moves to promote him.
Twins are calling up Yohan Pino to start Thursday vs White Sox. Sam Deduno headed to bullpen. Roster move TBD.
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) June 17, 2014
The Twins could move Mike Pelfrey to the 60-day disabled list in order to make room for Pino on the 40-man roster. But adding Pino to the 25-man active roster will require another move.
The Red Wings have had several other pitchers throwing well. Logan Darnell and Kris Johnson have both made spot starts for the Twins, while Trevor May and Alex Meyer have also been fantastic.
Fans have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of May and Meyer to the big league club, but they will have to keep waiting. May pitched well on Monday, but he won’t be available to start Thursday on short rest.
Should be noted that Josmil Pinto caught Trevor May in his dominant, 120-pitch, 11K, 3-hit, 8.1 IP win last night for @RocRedWings.
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) June 17, 2014
