Smeltzer was recalled from Triple-A Rochester and will start Sunday's game against the Royals, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Smeltzer was expected to get called up when the injured Michael Pineda's (triceps) next turn in the rotation came up Tuesday versus the Braves, but the Twins elected to expedite the rookie's promotion to provide Jake Odorizzi and Jose Berrios with an additional day of rest between starts. Over his prior four outings (two starts) with Minnesota this season, Smeltzer posted a 2.91 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 17:4 K:BB across 21.2 innings. He could be in store for multiple turns through the rotation with Pineda potentially on track to miss more than the minimum 10 days.