MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -Done with his interviews after a rough day on the mound, Kevin Slowey was pulled aside by Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire for a little counseling session.
Gardenhire wanted to make one thing clear to the young right-hander – if you’re hurting, you better tell him.
“You commend them for wanting the ball, but you have to be very smart with young arms,” Gardenhire said after a 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
After telling coaches and trainers he was feeling fine, Slowey left the game in the fourth inning because of a strained right biceps. He gave up three runs and four hits in 3 1-3 innings, and it wasn’t until Gardenhire came to the mound after seeing him shake his pitching arm that Slowey finally admitted to feeling discomfort.
“When I went out there and said ‘How are you doing?’ and he said, ‘I’m a little tight,’ well that’s good enough, you’re out,” Gardenhire said. “We’re going to take care of this young man’s arm. He has a good future here and we want to keep it that way.”
Gardenhire said Slowey will be re-evaluated on Friday and likely skip his next start.
It’s the latest injury to a banged-up Twins rotation. Francisco Liriano, who missed all of last season after elbow surgery, has started in the minors. Gardenhire said Liriano will make at least two more starts before the Twins consider bringing him up.
Slowey was the Twins’ 2007 minor league player of the year after breezing up through the system to reach the majors on June 1. He spent a month with the Twins before being sent back down. He was recalled in September and won three starts that month to finish 4-1 with a 4.73 ERA.
“You always want to stay out there. You never want to feel bad and you hope that it’ll just kind of fade away and it didn’t,” Slowey said. “You try to make pitches the best you can, but it just doesn’t make any sense, and Gardy and Andy preach that all the time. It doesn’t make any sense to go out and try to do something and hurt yourself worse.”
Gardenhire was adamant that Slowey’s injury would not affect any timeline for Liriano’s return to the big club.
“Liriano is on schedule and he’s going to do what we set him out to do and we’re not going to make any adjustments with Liriano coming up here,” Gardenhire said. “Only when he’s ready, and that’s a couple of starts at least.”
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