But that was in 2014. And he wasn’t wearing a Cleveland Indians jersey. Hentges was donning the white and green of the Mounds View Mustangs and leading his high school team to a 9-0 victory over Eden Prairie and its second consecutive state championship.
Hentges was drafted in the fourth round by Cleveland a week before that championship start and has spent the past seven years in the Indians’ organization. After making his major league debut earlier this season, Hentges will make his return to Target Field on Saturday, starting against the Twins.
“It’s been a dream of mine to play in the big leagues and now here I am facing the Twins, the team that I rooted for growing up,” Hentges said Friday. “It’s pretty surreal.”
Hentges grew up a Minnesota Twins fan and lived 20 minutes away from the stadium in Arden Hills. He idolized Torii Hunter and Johan Santana and vividly remembers the electric atmosphere at the Metrodome when attending game 163 against the Detroit Tigers in 2009. So basically, he’s just like most diehard Twins fans, except for the fact he’ll get the chance to pitch against his hometown team.
“I’m just going to try and treat it like any other start. Get a good night’s sleep tonight and wake up and try to stick to my routine as best as possible tomorrow,” Hentges said.
Easier said than done. Hentges will have around 35 family and friends in attendance on Saturday, and he’s received texts from many others who plan to get tickets.
Hentges has had a long road to MLB. He missed part of the 2016 season and pitched just 30 2/3 innings in 2017 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery on his left elbow. After struggling mightily in Double-A in 2019, his development was stunted when the 2020 minor league season was canceled because of the pandemic. Two weeks into this season he finally got his opportunity and has stayed in the majors since.
Hentges has appeared in 12 games this season. He’s 1-1 with a 6.40 ERA. He pitched against the Twins earlier this season in Cleveland, a three-inning relief appearance in which he allowed two runs.
“It’s been a cool ride the last seven years,” Hentges said.
Roster moves
To make room for Friday’s starter Danny Coulombe, the Twins placed reliever Luke Farrell on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, retroactive to June 23. Farrell has appeared in 13 games this season and has a 1.76 ERA in 15 1/3 innings.
“He’s pitched with this to a lesser extent for the last few weeks and we’re to the point where he’s having trouble getting going right now and throwing,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
The Twins also transferred right-handed pitcher Cody Stashak to the 60-day injured list to make room for Coulombe on the 40-man roster. Stashak has been out since May 28 with a left back disc injury. Stashak hasn’t experienced any setbacks, Baldelli said, but the reliever is going to need more time to recover than initially anticipated.
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