Samuel Deduno makes his third start with the Twins this season as Minnesota opens a three-game series in Kansas City tonight.
Which Deduno (1-1, 5.11 ERA) will be on the mound?
It’s one of the more intriguing questions of 2013, as the Twins (25-29) try to inch back to the .500 mark.
In Deduno’s first start, on May 24 at Detroit, he was torched for six runs in five-plus innings in a 6-0 loss to the Tigers.
In Deduno’s second start, on May 29 against Milwaukee, he was much better, holding the Brewers to one run in seven innings in a 4-1 Twins win.
Because of his wildness, no one really knows what to expect from Deduno from game to game, inning to inning, pitch to pitch.
As Chip Scoggins wrote in the Star Tribune: “His wildness can make (manager Ron) Gardenhire and (pitching coach Rick) Anderson squirm in their seats, unsure of how long to let Deduno attempt to settle in. His outings can feel like a theme-park ride, equal parts thrilling and stomach-turning.”
“When you run him out there,” Gardenhire told Scoggins, “you’re still kind of [thinking], ‘OK, what have we got?’ ”
The mystery unfolds again at 7:10 p.m. CT at Kauffman Stadium. Luis Mendoza (1-2, 4.63) starts for the Royals.
