Warne Notebook: Injuries, Ex-Twins and Affiliates

Caleb Thielbar was essentially sent down in favor of Duensing. Thielbar made six appearances spanning five innings in his stint with the Twins, striking out five and walking none while allowing three earned runs (5.40 ERA).

The other, perhaps more surprising move, was sending left-handed starter Tommy Milone to Rochester. Relegated to the bullpen just a day earlier, Milone’s fate was ultimately sealed when the Twins decided not only to keep Trevor May up, but that it would be better for the veteran lefty to remain stretched out as a starter rather than work out of the bullpen.

These moves also grant newly-promoted right-handers Ryan Pressly and Michael Tonkin potentially brief reprieves from being sent back to Rochester. Pressly arrived in Minnesota on Friday afternoon after the club placed right-handed reliever Tim Stauffer on the disabled list earlier in the day with the same injury Duensing had — right intercostal strain — while Tonkin threw all of one pitch on Thursday evening in inducing a foul pop off the bat of Tyler Flowers in his one-third of an inning of work.

How long Pressly and Tonkin stay up may not only be determined by how well they pitch, or how soon Stauffer and Casey Fien can return, but also how well a couple of relievers pitch at Triple-A as well. A pair of righties — Lester Oliveros and A.J. Achter — have also turned heads, and could be a part of the next wave of Red Wings to come up should the Twins need help. Oliveros — who is not presently on the 40-man roster — has been extremely impressive for Rochester through Thursday’s action, posting a 1.69 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 10.2 innings (17.7 K/9) in six appearances. A source relayed to 105 The Ticket that Oliveros had been throwing in the mid-90s recently on a consistent basis and hit as high as 96 mph when he made a spot start in a recent doubleheader.

Despite the non-roster status, GM Terry Ryan said Oliveros was in the consideration but ultimately was passed over. “The roster (situation) didn’t make the difference,” Ryan said. “I think it’s consistency. You saw in spring training; he didn’t hardly pitch. He was in the conversation though. So was Achter.”

Achter’s numbers aren’t as eye-popping as Oliveros’ — 3.72 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 8.4 K/9 — but he has seen plenty of late-inning action, working the seventh inning or later in seven of his nine appearances. Ultimately, both figure to see some bullpen time with the big club before season’s end, as this depth ought to work to the club’s advantage.

Trivia

Against which pitcher does Torii Hunter have the most home runs in his career (five)?

Injury Update

Starter Phil Hughes — who left Thursday’s start with a mild left hip flexor strain — threw his usual bullpen on Friday and pronounced himself ready to start on Monday. Incidentally, that date lines up with a matchup against Oakland’s Jesse Hahn on “Hughes the Force” day, when the Twins will give away a Hughes Star Wars-themed Bobblehead doll.

Old Friend Alert

Pitcher Andrew Albers was called up by the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday to fill the roster spot of the departed Daniel Norris. Albers had a 1-3 record with a 3.09 ERA and 4.6 K/9 with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Albers’ stay in the big leagues — his first since 2013 with the Twins — was short, as he was sent back to Triple-A after the game.

Samuel Deduno made a spot start for the Houston Astros Friday night against Roenis Elias and the Mariners, and to his credit did a pretty nice job all things considered. Deduno lasted four innings (61 pitches, 41 strikes) with four strikeouts, two walks and just one earned run on three hits. The Astros ultimately won, 4-3.

Chris Colabello was honored as the International League player of the month for April. In 20 games, Colabello batted .338/.427/.592 with five home runs and 16 RBIs. This was Colabello’s second time receiving the honor, as he was also honored in June 2013 with the Rochester Red Wings.

Reliever Alex Burnett was released from his Mexican League team Guerreros de Oaxaca roughly 10 days ago after posting a 6.23 ERA (12.5 K/9) in seven appearances spanning 8.2 innings. Burnett spent the bulk of the 2014 season with Sioux City of the American Association -- think St. Paul Saints -- as a teammate of Rene Tosoni -- also a former Twin.

Affiliate Update

Rochester (12-9) – The Red Wings fell 4-3 to another old friend, as Chris Parmelee and the Norfolk Tides pounded out 12 hits en route to a win. Josmil Pinto had a two-run home run, while Pat Dean took the loss with 7.1 innings of 11-hit, four-run ball. Dean fanned one and walked one and is now 2-1.

Chattanooga (10-11) – The Lookouts jumped out with three first-inning runs and never looked back as Tyler Duffey pitched seven solid innings to push his record to 1-2. Byron Buxton had three hits — including a double — atop the order, while Jorge Polanco, Travis Harrison and Adam Brett Walker each chipped in a pair.

Fort Myers (8-14) – The Miracle found themselves on the short end of a pitchers duel on Friday, 2-1. Four Charlotte pitchers — including rehabbing Rays reliever Jake McGee — scattered six hits and just one run as the Miracle mustered just a double from Alex Swim for their only extra-base hit of the night. Brandon Peterson and Brian Gilbert combined for three hitless innings of shutout relief, fanning six and walking two.

Cedar Rapids (12-10) – Stephen Gonsalves was the hard-luck loser as the Kernels were no-hit by a trio of Lumber Kings. Daniel Missaki, Kody Kerski and Troy Scott combined to strike out 10 and walk just two in the no-hit effort. Gonsalves was stellar as usual, striking out eight and walking just one while allowing a pair of earned runs on five hits over seven innings. Michael Theofanopoulos tossed a pair of shutout innings in relief. Tanner English and Trey Vavra accounted for the Kernels’ two walks in the loss.

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One Year Ago

The Twins entered play on May 2 with a 12-14 record after dropping both ends of a May 1 doubleheader to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Losing pitchers for the Twins on that day were Duensing and Mike Pelfrey.

Trivia Answer:

Torii has five career home runs against retired lefty Esteban Loaiza. He has four career home runs against Freddy Garcia and Saturday’s starter John Danks. All three of these pitchers were White Sox at one time or another.

This story originated at Cold Omaha here, where your click would be graciously accepted.