Rays send Jeremy Hellickson back to minors after impressive debut victory

Stud prospect Jeremy Hellickson was called up from the minors to make his big-league debut last night, pitched the Rays into a first-place tie by beating the Twins with seven strong innings, and was optioned right back to Triple-A minutes after the win. He’ll be back, of course, but it underscores just how much young talent the Rays have that they could take a one-night look at Hellickson and then let him return to Durham after an extremely strong performance against another contending team. Now, in fairness Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Orlando Hudson were all absent from Minnesota’s lineup because of injuries, but Hellickson’s seven innings of two-run ball were still plenty impressive. He allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out six, flashing a potentially dominant changeup in addition to a low-90s fastball and good curveball. Hellickson ranked 18th on Baseball America‘s list of the game’s top prospects coming into the season and upped his stock even further by going 12-3 with a 2.45 ERA and 123/35 K/BB ratio in 117.2 innings at Triple-A. He’s the real deal and many teams would have had him in the rotation months ago, but the Rays lead the league in ERA and have a rotation full of 28-and-under starters, so for now the 23-year-old Hellickson will have to wait his turn back at Durham.