Twins put newly recalled reliever Ryan Eades right to work

Detroit – Ryan Eades flew in from Boston on Saturday, arriving at Comerica Park just before the Twins' game against the Tigers commenced.

He was called up to help give an overworked bullpen some rest, and it didn't take long for him to be called upon as he pitched two scoreless innings in his major league debut, a 9-3 loss.

"It was definitely a little different," said Eades, who pitched Saturday with his wife, mother and brother all in attendance. "It's one of the first times I've showed up to the field and didn't play catch. Just played catch in the bullpen and made my debut five innings later. It was cool. A very cool experience."

Eades, a second-round pick in the 2013 draft out of Louisiana State, got two outs before walking Niko Goodrum and Christin Stewart. But he recovered to strike out Nick Castellanos on a slider to end the inning. He tacked on a scoreless seventh inning — but got help as Dawel Lugo was easily thrown out at home for the final out.

Eades was a member of a powerhouse LSU team that advanced to the 2013 NCAA College World Series before losing its first two games. Alex Bregman, Aaron Nola and Detroit outfielder JaCoby Jones were among his college teammates.

At 27, Eades' path to the majors took longer than some of his former LSU teammates. He was drafted as a starter but started relieving in 2016. He reached Class AAA Rochester in 2017 and 2018 but ended up spending more time at Class AA Chattanooga.

He still throws the four-pitch mix of fastball, curve, slider and changeup. His fastball is in the low-to-mid-90s but has touched 96.

While his overall numbers aren't eye-popping, five of his previous six outings ended up being scoreless and he has a strikeout rate of 11.1 per nine innings.

"Eades has good stuff," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He has a good breaking ball. He has ways to get big league hitters out. We're looking forward to watching him throw."

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

Several Twins players wore green La Tortuga T-shirts in the clubhouse Saturday, several hours after Astudillo was sent down to Rochester. And Baldelli spoke glowingly of the effect Astudillo had 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. Bullpens get to this point every year, and it was time to go back to a 13-man pitching staff.

While Astudillo can catch and play at first, third and the corner outfield spots, he's got to hit. And 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, he hit .214 with a .537 on base-plus-slugging percentage over the next 30.

So the Twins called up Eades while sending Astudillo down. In his first game back at Rochester, Astudillo started in right field and went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI Saturday.

"I hope to see Willians back up here very soon," Baldelli said.

Rochester infielder Ronald Torreyes has been on the temporary inactive list since May 4 while dealing with a family medical issue. The Twins do expect him to eventually return but, for now, they have placed him on the restricted list to make room for Eades on the 40-man roster.

Torreyes was part of major league spring training camp, then batted .128 in 22 games with the Red Wings before leaving the club.

"We do expect he will be back with us soon," Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey said, "and our plan would be to build him up toward game play."