DETROIT — Willians Astudillo might be gone, but he won't be forgotten.

Several players wore green La Tortuga t-shirts in the visitor's clubhouse on Saturday, several hours after Astudillo was optioned to Class AAA Rochester. And manager Rocco Baldelli spoke glowingly of the effect Astudillo had on the club during his time with the club.

"Obviously, not an easy thing to do on our end with Willie," Baldelli said. "He means a ton to the group. He means a ton to us. He does everything we ask him to do. A very selfless guy.

"It was not an easy conversation and something we obviously don't want to have to do."

But the Twins needed another reliever, as they try to reset their bullpen after recent heavy lifting. Bullpens get to this point every year, and it was time to go to a 13-man staff.

While Astudillo can catch and play at first, third and the corner outfield spots. He's got to hit. And, simply, the magic in his bat that made him a fan favorite has not been there. After going 6-for-11 over his first three games, Astudillo batted .214 with a .537 on base-plus-slugging percentage over the next 30.

So the Twins called up righthander Ryan Eades to help the bullpen while sending Astudillo down.

"Sometimes when guys do have options, you end up having to look toward those guys as the person who would have to go down for a period of time," Baldelli said. "But I hope to see Willians back up here very soon. We're also very happy to see Eadesie join the group. It was good to have him in spring training, he threw the ball well."

Eades was expected to arrive at the park in time to be available in the bullpen. He will wear No. 80 - the first time in club history someone will wear that number in a game.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Eades, the Twins have placed Class AAA Rochester infielder Ronald Torreyes on the restricted list. Torreyes already was on the temporary inactive list while he was away from the team dealing with a family medical issue.

The Tigers this morning held their annual faith-based program, called Home Plate. Among the speakers: Kyle Gibson. And, yes, Gibson is starting today. He committed to the event not knowing that is turn in the rotation would fall on the same day. But he led off the program then went to prepare for his start.

Detroit, apparently, was one of the first teams to have and annual event in which players address fans to talk about their relationship with Jesus Christ. The Twins hold one each year, too. But the crowd at today's program was impressive.

For the third time this road trip, the Twins are facing a reliever as an opener. Righthander Buck Farmer will start for the Tigers - apparently this is the first time they have used an opener this season.

Ryan Harper has the lineup card and a couple baseballs from his first major league win on Friday. He also has a bottle of Dom Perignon, courtesy of Bert Blyleven. The Hall of Famer said he did the same thing after Jose Berrios' first major league win as well.


Twins

Max Kepler, RF
Jorge Polanco, SS
Nelson Cruz, DH
C.J. Cron, 1B
Marwin Gonzalez, LF
Miguel Sano, 3B
Jonanthan Schoop, 2B
Jason Castro, C
Byron Buxton, CF

Kyle Gibson, RHP

Tigers

Niko Goodrum, SS
Christin Stewart, LF
Nicholas Castellanos, RF
Miguel Cabrera, DH
Brandon Dixon, 1B
Harold Castro, 3B
Gordon Beckham, 2B
Grayson Greiner, C
JaCoby Jones, CF

Buck Farmer, RHP