MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have optioned right-hander Liam Hendriks to Triple-A Rochester to make room for left-hander Scott Diamond on the 25-man roster. Diamond made his 2013 debut Saturday against the New York Mets.
Hendriks made two starts this year for the Twins and was 0-1 with a 4.66 ERA. He is 1-11 with a 5.63 in 22 career starts in the majors.
"We needed a spot, and it'll still keep us at 12 pitchers. It's that simple," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said of the move. "It was a tough thing to look at and maneuver around. But we felt we'd be OK at 12 pitchers. … Liam can use some more time."
Diamond began the season on the disabled list after having arthroscopic elbow surgery in December. He was the Twins' best starting pitcher in 2012, going 12-9 with a 3.54 ERA in 27 starts.
There was a possibility that left-hander Pedro Hernandez would be the player sent down to Rochester to make room for Diamond, but the 24-year-old has done enough to stay in the majors and showed that a calf injury suffered Friday was nothing serious. He pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief after starter Vance Worley left with no outs in the second inning.
"He throws it over the plate. He competes. He's doing pretty decent," Ryan said of Hernandez. "It always gives us a nice compliment in now we have two lefties and three righties, all that stuff."
Hernandez has made one start and one relief appearance with the Twins so far this season. He pitched primarily as a starter in 2012 with three different minor league teams, including Rochester.
Minnesota now has to figure out how to align its rotation and determine if Hernandez fits in the starting five. Worley's day was cut short Friday after a rough start, so Gardenhire said there's a chance he could be ready to go again Tuesday. The Twins are also expecting bad weather Sunday, so a possible postponement would further alter their plans for the starting rotation.
"Who knows what's going to happen. You've got a day off Thursday. We're kind of ad-libbing here on how we're going to run all these things through," Gardenhire said. "Worley threw 57 pitches. There's an opportunity for him to come back Tuesday. (Pitching coach Rick Anderson is) going to talk with him about that. We're going to see if that's viable. We're working on a lot of different things here, a lot of different angles. Today has not been an easy day trying to figure out which route to go here."
Ramirez to paternity list: Twins outfielder Wilkin Ramirez will be placed on the paternity list Sunday to spend time with his wife, who went into labor in New York. Ramirez can be on the paternity list for a total of three days.
Minnesota did not announce a corresponding roster move following Saturday's game. The move will be announced at a later date.
Ramirez, 27, has appeared in five games with the Twins so far this year. He is 2-for-10 with a walk and a double.
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