Despite the Twins taking two of three games from the Kansas City Royals, sandwiched between those two games was another sub-par outing from Phil Hughes, who gave up six hits, including three home runs, over four innings. The Twins lost 6-4 to the Royals on Sunday in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
Hughes, meanwhile, after starting the year 4-1, now finds himself at 4-3 with an ERA of 5.74. To make matters worse, he’s headed to the 10-day disabled list with shoulder discomfort, according to MLB.com.
None of this is good for Hughes who has battled injuries after a solid first year with the Twins in which he finished 16-10 in 2014. There’s been baseball chatter about Twins pitcher Ervin Santana and his increasing value to command a decent trade. But what about Hughes? Maybe it’s time the Twins found a way to move him and keep Santana instead.
Hughes is signed through 2019 with the Twins. He’ll earn $13.2 million per season over the next three seasons, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Extra innings..
-Sunday’s Game 1 loss to the Royals was the first for the Twins. The Twins are now 7-1 against the club.
-Sunday’s Game 2 win went to starter Adalberto Mejia, his first for the Twins. Mejia lasted seven innings and gave up five hits, three runs (all earned), with two walks and three strikeouts.
-The Twins will now play musical chairs with their rotation, according to MLB.com. With Hughes going to the disabled list, Kyle Gibson has been recalled from Triple-A Rochester and will start Monday’s game. Mejia, on the other hand, gets sent down again, but may be recalled if Gibson is sent back after Monday’s start.
-The Royals hit three home runs in Game 2, but so did the Twins, getting long balls from Robbie Grossman, Max Kepler and Chris Gimenez.
-The Twins potentially face a tough stretch of games in the coming days. They hit the road on Monday to play the Baltimore Orioles, then it’s back home to take on the Tampa Bay Rays and the red-hot Houston Astros.