TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
The Minnesota Twins have released left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe. A native of Australia, Thorpe was signed by the Twins in 2012 to a $500K signing bonus as a 17 year-old.
Thorpe made his major league debut with the Twins on June 30, 2019 at Guaranteed Rate Field in a start against the Chicago White Sox. Thorpe pitched five innings and left the game trailing 2-0 after allowing two runs on five hits while striking out seven and was credited with the loss.
The lefty could never put it together in the big leagues with the Twins and appeared in 24 games and 59.1 innings between 2019-2021 and posting a 3-5 record with a 5.76 ERA. It is probably best for all concerned for Thorpe to look for other opportunities and see if a change of scenery can perhaps get him back on track. Good luck Lewis!
The Twins announced today that they have selected the contracts of right-handed pitcher Brusdar Graterol and outfielder Ian Miller from AAA Rochester. They have also recalled left-handed pitcher Devin Smeltzer and right-handed pitchers Zack Littell and Kohl Stewart. Additionally, they will return both catcher Willians Astudillo and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. from their respective rehab assignments and reinstate both from the 10-day Injured List.
In a separate transaction, the Twins have placed right-handed pitcher Kyle Gibson on the 10-day Injured List with Ulcerative Colitis, marking Gibson’s first trip to the Injured List since 2016. In 28 games (27 starts) for the Twins this season, Gibson has gone 13-6 with a 4.58 ERA (149.1 IP, 76 ER), 146 strikeouts and 45 walks. Replacing Gibson on the roster, the Twins have recalled left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe from AAA Rochester. Thorpe has appeared in six games (1 start) for the Twins this season, going 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA (14.1 IP, 7 ER), three walks and 14 strikeouts.
The Twins also announced today that they have activated Byron Buxton who has been on the IL since August 3. Sean Poppen was moved to the 60 day Injured List.
AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos outfielder Jaylin Davis and AAA Rochester left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe have been named Twins minor league player and Pitcher of the Week.
Jaylin Davis
In six games for the Blue Wahoos, Davis hit .407 (11-for-27) with three doubles, two home runs, six RBI and a 1.148 OPS.
Davis, 24, and in his fourth season of pro ball was drafted by the Twins in the 24th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Appalachian State University. Jaylin Malik Davis was expected to be a top 3-4 round talent coming out of Appalachian State University but was unfortunate to tear the labrum in his right shoulder when diving after a ball during his draft season. Davis missed the rest of 2015 getting the shoulder repaired and letting it heal.
Lewis Thorpe
Thorpe, 23, made one start for the Red Wings on Tuesday vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, allowing one run on three hits in 8.0 innings while striking out 12 batters for the second straight start. Thorpe got off to a rough starts this season allowing 15 runs in his first two starts that lasted a total of 8.2 innings. For the year Thorpe is 1-2 with a 7.25 ERA in 22.1 innings. 7 of his 8 walks this season were in his first two starts.
Thorpe was signed in 2012 out of Melbourne, Australia at the age of 16 and is in his eighth season of pro ball but he missed 2015 and 2016 due to Tommy John surgery. Thorpe, the 6’2″ lefty was the Twins minor league Pitcher of the Year last season. I would expect Thorpe to make his major league debut with the Twins in 2019.
The Twins have named High-A Ft. Myers infielder Luis Arraez and AA Chattanooga
left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.
Luis Arraez
The 21-year-old Arraez played five games for the Miracle, hitting .542 (13-for-24) with one double, one home run, four RBI and had a five-hit game on Friday at Bradenton. For the season he is hitting .307 with a .359 OBP and has played primarily at second but has also put in time at third and shortstop. In his five seasons of pro ball Arraez has never hit below .300 and has a .332 career average. Arraez was out most of 2017 with a torn ACL. Arraez was signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent in 2013 from San Felipe, Venezuela.
Lewis Thorpe
Thorpe made the start on Thursday vs. Biloxi, pitching 7.0 shutout innings with one hit allowed, one walk and 12 strikeouts. Thorpe was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2012 out of Melbourne, Australia. Here is what FanGraphs has to say about Thorpe :
Thorpe had real prospect status following the 2014 season, when he turned in a solid 71.2 innings in Low-A at age 18. He then missed all of the 2015 and 2016 seasons with Tommy John surgery and mono during his rehab from the surgery. He returned last year and mostly picked up where he left off, reaching Double-A at age 21, which is where he was assigned to start 2018. His stuff has always been around average, but it was a little above before and now it’s more fringy with a good slider.
Jake Seiner did a nice piece on MiLB.com a few days ago about Twins pitching prospect Lewis Thorpe that I thought you might enjoy reading and you can check out here. Thorpe pitched for the GLC Twins at the age of 17 last season and was 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA and a 0.864 WHIP. In 44 innings he allowed only 32 hits while striking out 64 batters. It will be interesting to see how Thorpe does as he moves up the Twins minor league ladder. Thorpe who was given $500,000 to sign is expected to start the season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
I went out to Hammond Stadium again this morning and hung around for a couple of hours talking baseball with other fans and watched some of the early arrivals hit and take some infield. Not much going on as yet. Some of the players I recognized today that were participating in early workouts of one variety or another were Trevor Plouffe, Jason Bartlett, Miguel Sano, Nate Roberts, Adam Walker, Lewis Thorpe, Wilkin Ramirez, Kyle Gibson, Jared Burton, Mike Kvasnicka, AJ Pettersen, and Amaurys Minier. These players and others that I did not recognize were working under the tutelage of some minor league coaches and Joe Lepel. After hitting, some of the infielders including Jason Bartlett and Miguel Sano took some infield on field 4 practicing their fielding and working on turning double plays. It was interesting watching Bartlett and Sano doing some of these infield drills on their knees. All in all there is not much going on out at the ballpark as yet with no players having officially reported. I would however expect that more players will arrive over the week-end and that the action will pick up next week. The people working the hardest at Hammond Stadium these days are probably the construction workers that are trying to getting things ready for the start of spring training. I took some more pictures today primarily of the ball players and I have uploaded them to the “2014 Spring Training” link you can find on the right hand side of this page. I will be out there again early next week and I will keep you updated on what I see going on at Hammond Stadium..
