Righthander Liam Hendriks gets another chance.
Hendriks, 23, has put up good numbers in the minors - he's 9-3 with a 2.20 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. That talent has not showed up in shots with the Twins, as he's 0-5 with a 7.04 ERA this season. Hendriks, by the way, is 0-7 since making his debut last season.
When the Twins sent Hendriks to Rochester in June, they decided to leave him down there for awhile and wanted to see him sustain success. So while other pitchers have been called up, Hendriks has remained with the Red Wings.
With Nick Blackburn struggling, the Twins decided today to give Hendrilks another chance.
In his last 10 starts, Hendriks is 5-3 with a 2.10 ERA. He's held opponents to a .203 batting average. He's in good form, and it's time for him to seize this opportunity and prove he can be counted on. He will join the club today and will start tomorrow against the Athletics.
La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts. Mark Rosen borrows him occasionally for WCCO-TV.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
Twins to start Gee, Melville in Monday's doubleheader at Chicago
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