Twins right-hander Phil Hughes is off the disabled list and will start tonight against the Tigers after missing the past month with a back injury.
Hughes returns without a minor-league rehab assignment, so the Wild Card-chasing Twins are taking a bit of a risk throwing him right back into the rotation and are expected to limit his pitch count to 75-80 initially.
After a breakout 2014 season in which he posted the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in MLB history Hughes regressed in a big way this year, throwing 144 innings with a 4.49 ERA and just 5.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
Minnesota gave Hughes a three-year contract extension following his career-year, so he’s owed about $50 million from 2016-2019.
