Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
It’s funny how a season has its ups and downs. At the beginning of the season, it was wanted in a good portion of the fan base for Sam Deduno to be moved from the bullpen into the starting rotation. That happened. After struggling in the rotation, fans called for Deduno to be removed from the starting rotation. That just happened.
On Tuesday afternoon the Minnesota Twins announced that Sam Deduno would be put back in the bullpen and the team would call up Yohan Pino to take his spot in the major league rotation. The move will require the Twins to make a move on both the 40-man and 25-man rosters. It is widely believed that Mike Pelfrey will be moved to the 60-Day DL to make room for Pino on the 40-man. It has yet to be announced what the move for the 25-man roster will be.
The move is a big talker for Twins fans. Twins fans have been clamoring to see top prospects like Alex Meyer or Trevor May in the majors, but did not get their wish with the Twins calling up the 30-year-old minor leaguer.
Pino has been in the minor leagues since 2005 and started his journey with the Twins organization before stops with Cleveland, Toronto and Cincinnati. This is Pino’s first year back in the Twins organization.
Pino’s had a fabulous 2014 so far in Triple-A. In 10 starts, Pino has a 9-1 record with a 1.92 ERA and a 0.934 ERA.
Pino will start on Thursday for the Twins against the White Sox at Target Field.