Twins right-hander Phil Hughes has struggled for much of the season following a breakout 2014 campaign, allowing the most hits and homers in the league. He had a particularly rough outing Sunday, giving up seven runs in three innings, and now he’s been placed on the disabled list with a back injury.
Minnesota was already in need of a spot starter Saturday, so Hughes’ injury led the Twins to shake up the entire rotation. Trevor May, who was sent to the bullpen in early July and hasn’t thrown more than 30 pitches in a game since July 1, will start Friday on what figures to be a limited pitch count.
Tyler Duffey, who got knocked around in his MLB debut last week and was immediately demoted back to Triple-A, will be called up to start Saturday. And then veteran left-hander Tommy Milone will come off the disabled list to start Sunday.
All while the Twins’ best pitching prospect, Jose Berrios, remains at Triple-A where the 21-year-old former first-round draft pick has a 3.02 ERA and 43/12 K/BB ratio in 45 innings.