Tommy Milone has been spectacular at Class AAA Rochester, he has done everything the Twins asked when they sent him down, and he has absolutely earned a call-up, the Twins' decision-makers said Monday. And that call-up will happen … ?
"Eventually," General Manager Terry Ryan said.
Yes, Milone may be collecting Triple-A scoreless innings like pocket change, but he also has the misfortune of doing so during the Twins' longest extended stretch of starting-pitching effectiveness in years. The Twins' five starters have gone 13-4 in May, own a collective 3.58 ERA this month and have pitched more than five innings in six consecutive games.
In other words, the logjam that forced the Twins to send the lefthander down in the first place hasn't gone away, and with the end of Ervin Santana's suspension now less than six weeks away, the situation only figures to get worse. But the Twins are trying to make sure that Milone understands the situation.
"He's been communicated with about the fact that we know what he's doing, we're paying attention, but we're in a little bit of a holding pattern up here because the guys are holding their own," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "So I think he understands that for the short term."
The numbers are hard to miss, though. Milone pitched 31⅔ innings before giving up his first run with the Red Wings, giving him an ERA of 0.28, and he has struck out 41 batters while walking only two. "We asked him to go down there and be aggressive, and he's been doing that," Molitor said.
Ryan said he's certain an opportunity will open soon for Milone. "It's inevitable, we know that," he said. "Whether it's in a week, or two weeks, I suspect it'll come about. It never fails."
He guessed right
Trevor Plouffe smashed his seventh home run of the season in the second inning, a three-run shot into the left field seats that capped the Twins' six-run inning. It was a good guess on his part, Plouffe said.