The first warning sign for the Twins came during the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. Righthander Phil Hughes could not throw the ball where he wanted, and he experienced a dip in velocity on his fastball.
He was not made available to the media after the game, as initially expected, and the club announced he was getting treatment. That was the next sign that something was wrong with Hughes.
The Twins confirmed, splitting two games with Kansas City at Target Field, that they placed Hughes on the 10-day disabled list because of shoulder discomfort. Hughes, speaking after the second game, said he began having problems in the second and third innings Sunday that were reminiscent of his injury-plagued 2016 season. He was limited to 59 innings last season after having surgery to treat thoracic outlet syndrome.
"It's very frustrating," said Hughes, 5-3 with a 5.74 ERA this season. "I hoped a lot of this was behind me. To have this sprout up again is frustrating, but hopefully will have an easy answer and be able to bounce back from it."
Hughes will be examined further by Twins doctors and might, as a precaution, seek a second opinion.
In four innings, he gave up five runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts. He gave up three home runs in a game for the third time since joining the Twins before the 2014 season. He threw at least 20 pitches in the second, third and fourth innings as he battled discomfort.
"When you are trying to get a little extra something on it, the command suffers, and that is what I was experiencing," he said. "When your velocity is dipping and you are trying to muster whatever you can, obviously you are not going to put the ball where you want."
Hughes has a 9.22 ERA over his past three starts. He also has given up at least four earned runs in six of his nine starts.