Plouffe back, Herrmann gone

It's back to the minors for catcher-outfielder
Chris Herrmann, who at least hit .462 during
his brief tenure this year. Last September
he hit .056 during his call-up.

Trevor Plouffe returns to the Minnesota lineup today, having apparently successfully rehabbed his latest injury.

And man, the Twins need something from their third baseman. The Jamey Carroll/Eduardo Escobar duo combined to go 10-for-88 in Plouffe's absence (this according to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune).

That's a whole lot of nuthin', especially since the third baseman have been hitting leadoff quite a bit. It's a pretty good guess that the second baseman (mostly Brian Dozier, presumably) will be locked in at leadoff for a while now. The Twins simply don't have a good option there.

Meanwhile, the demotion of Chris Herrmann is interesting too, especially since it comes just in time for a Sam Deduno start. Herrmann got two starts behind the plate with the Twins; they both came with Deduno on the mound.

There's a certain logic behind having the third catcher handle Deduno. Deduno is easily the Twins most difficult starter to catch; he's wild, his ball moves a lot, the catcher winds up having to block a lot of pitches. Catching is a bruising job to start with; a guy like Deduno (or Francisco Liriano before him) makes it even more bruising.

If Joe Mauer catches Deduno, the odds increase that he's going to get nicked up and/or need a day out of the lineup; that's not good for the offense, especially when he's one of the few productive hitters. And not only do the Twins have the same "we need his bat" feeling about Ryan Doumit these days, but Doumit is simply not a good receiver. Deduno's too difficult a pitcher to pair with Doumit.

Which is, I'm sure, how Herrmann got paired up with Deduno. And now that pairing is sundered. Mauer's going to have to catch Deduno.