My colleague Phil Miller is writing a more detailed piece about Aaron Slegers' impressive debut for the paper and startribune.com. I'll just say this: For a guy who wasn't tagged as a ``top prospect", the kid was very impressive.

And impressive in many ways. He threw 52 strikes in 82 pitches. He never looked frazzled. He even handled his postgame interview like a pro. He lasted 6 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three, but he provided an antidote to the pitching virus carried by guys like Kyle Gibson who seem afraid to throw the ball over the plate early in the count.

Slegers has family North of the Twin Cities and had a couple of dozen friends and family members at the game.

His was the longest big-league debut by a Twins starting pitcher since Yohan Pino lasted seven innings on June 19, 2014. He also became the first Twin to allow two hits or less and pitch at least 6 1/3 innings in his debut.

The Twins are sending him back to the minors and will make a corresponding roster move tomorrow.

I'd rather see Slegers than Gibson in the rotation.

--------------

Next live show from MNSPN.com and Hell's Kitchen is 5 p.m. Friday with LaVelle E. Neal III and VikingUpdate publisher Tim Yotter. We'll preview the Twins-Diamondbacks and Vikings-Seahawks games as well as talk NFL, NHL, NBA and college football. Please stop by.