Twins right-hander P.J. Walters, designated for assignment after Thursday’s game, believes he has shown enough to earn a job somewhere in the major leagues.

“I’ve pitched enough and learned enough that I can help somebody,” Walters said before the 9-5 loss to the New York Yankees. “I don’t know if I’ve pitched well enough to be able to say I deserve it, but I feel I can help this team and I can help a lot of other teams as well.”

Because Walters, 28, is out of minor league options, he would have to clear waivers before he could be sent back to Triple-A Rochester. With Mike Pelfrey coming off the disabled list Saturday in Toronto, the Twins opted to take that risk now that Scott Diamond seemingly has figured it out.

The Twins have 10 days to trade, release or place Walters on waivers. If he somehow clears waivers, he has the contractual right to refuse the assignment and opt for free agency.

However, as of Thursday afternoon, he said he and his agent hadn’t discussed that option yet.

“No matter which way we went, it was going to suck,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Somebody was going to have to go. We like these guys. P.J. has thrown some pretty good ballgames for us, actually pitched pretty well. Had a couple rough starts in a row … but he’s done a decent job. It’s not easy.”

Walters bounced back with a solid outing against the New York Yankees on Wednesday, but it wasn’t good enough to break his recent four-start slide: 0-4 with a 12.21 ERA.

“There’s definitely a learning curve,” Walters said, “and I feel like I’ve hit that part where it’s make-or- break time. I’ve got to speed up that curve a little bit.”

That may have to happen elsewhere after failing to escape a six-run first inning in Cleveland and giving up six more earned runs last week in three innings against Kansas City.

“It’s not a secret. I was off,” Walters said. “Not by a lot. It’s not like I was throwing balls to the backstop, but you got that little area between home plate and the batter’s box, and I threw a lot of pitches that were right in that area — two or three inches off.”

That, of course, is all it takes.

“If the guy swings at it, he’s going to get out,” Walters said. “If he takes it, it’s a ball. All of a sudden it’s 2-0, 3-0, you walk a guy, and now you kind of force yourself into a jam.”

Walters was a little more precise against the Yankees until a rough sixth, but it may have been too late to save his spot.

“Those two bad starts I had, you go back through anybody’s career, they’ve had them,” Walters said. “Everybody’s had them. Maybe I had them at a bad time. There’s never really a good time for them. My job is to right the ship and pitch better from here out.”

Wherever that might be.

BRIEFLY

Right-hander Kohl Stewart made it through his pro debut just fine. That was the report from Twins personnel man Mike Radcliff, via GM Terry Ryan, after the Twins’ first-rounder allowed a run on two hits in two innings of work. Stewart’s fastball sat at 93-94 mph and touched 95 mph, Ryan said. He struck out two.