When the Twins demoted Nick Blackburn to Class AAA Rochester, they did not reach down for another 88-90 mph pitch-to-contact guy to replace him. Samuel Deduno, a 29-year-old who has never made a start in the majors (though has had a cup of coffee, or maybe just a small cup of water in the bigs), figures to be very much unlike pretty much everything we have seen on the mound for the Twins this season: a right-hander with a live arm, good velocity, questionable control and a propensity to either walk or strike out hitters.
Just check out these minor league totals:
2005: 89.2 innings, 65 BB, 110 Ks
2006: 146.1 innings, 92 BB, 167 Ks
2007: 135.0 innings, 73 BB, 129 Ks
2009: 138.2 innings, 76 BB, 131 Ks
2010: 47.0 innings, 23 BB, 49 Ks
2011: 105.0 innings, 58 BB, 85 Ks
2012 (Rochester): 42.0 innings, 22 BB, 46 Ks
The Twins will give him a shot Saturday against a very good and very deep Texas lineup. We will be watching out of sheer curiosity -- both for how he fares and how much pacing Ron Gardenhire does in the dugout.