Wes Johnson, the pitching coach recruited from the University of Arkansas, followed the lead of Twins manager Rocco Baldelli when asked about Fernando Romero's demotion being tied to back-to-back clunkers.

"No, no, no; Fernando is progressing the way we need him to," Johnson said. "If a hitter goes 0-for-4 today, do we stop playing him? It's not about his last two games."

I don't believe him. The plan for this bullpen from the day pitchers and catchers reported was to have Romero among the relievers to open the season. That plan became more solid when Romero came out of the bullpen for a total of seven innings with one run scored.

And then came a game in Sarasota when he couldn't throw a strike, followed by a game with the Pirates when he mixed in walks, wild pitches and base hits.

Romero's demotion followed, but it was all part of Fernando progressing as the Twins wanted. Sure, Wes, we're going to buy that.