DETROIT -- Twins rookie Devin Smeltzer impressed many during his first stint with the Major League club, but the hope is that the next time the 23-year-old left-hander is in the big leagues, it's for a lot longer.

At least, that’s what manager Rocco Baldelli wants.

“Who knows when it will be, but if he goes down there and handles his business, he’s going to be a Major League pitcher again and hopefully for a longer period of time,” Baldelli said Friday, ahead of a three-game series with the Tigers, which concludes a 10-game road swing.

Smeltzer was optioned to Triple-A Rochester after right-hander Michael Pineda was activated off the 10-day injured list. Pineda, who was put on the IL to deal with tendinitis in his right knee, will start Friday for the first time since being sidelined May 28.

Baldelli said he was impressed with Smeltzer’s demeanor through his first two big league starts, in which Smeltzer went 0-1 with a 3.65 ERA in 12 1/3 innings, striking out nine against three walks. And though Smeltzer’s limited Major League experience has been encouraging, he served his purpose well to make big starts while Pineda got back to 100 percent.

“I think he has a ton to be happy about and to be proud of, and a lot to build off of,” Baldelli said. “He came up here and proved to himself and everyone else that not only can he compete at this level, but he can succeed and do this job very well. So his stay was extremely positive, from my perspective.”

Pineda is 4-3 with a 5.34 ERA in 11 starts this season. Baldelli said Pineda wouldn’t have any restrictions and he is hopeful the veteran right-hander can get back to doing what he does best.

“I know he’s excited to be back out there,” Baldelli said. “He’s ready to go. His rehab went very well. There was never really a point where we thought this was going to be an extended absence for Big Mike and again he feels good. You can tell from the way he’s kind of bouncing around right now that he’s ready to go, and there really won’t be any restrictions on him. We’re just going to let him go out there, watch him pitch, see where he can get us and go from there.”

Worth noting

• Max Kepler and Miguel Sano were out of the lineup Friday, to get an extra day off. Prior to Friday, Kepler had played in nine of the past 10 games, including Thursday’s 5-4 win at Cleveland, in which the outfielder went 4-for-5 with three home runs and four RBIs.

Kepler, 26, is hitting .266/.337/.542 in 214 at-bats.

“With the way that we’re kind of configured right now, everyone’s going to have their day and it was pre-planned,” Baldelli said. “We talk about our lineups well beforehand and it doesn’t always hold true 100 percent day to day what you plan to do. … But yeah, you kind of almost laugh to yourself and go, ‘This guy just went deep three times.’"

• Sano has been held out since Wednesday, but Baldelli expects the designated hitter to be back in the lineup on Saturday. Sano, 26, is slashing .250/.348/.625 through 15 games and has been working in a leg kick to his swing.

“It depends who’s pitching,” Sano said. “Not a lot of velocity, I kick.”