MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins launched Minor League catcher Derek Bender on Friday, a day after a report emerged on ESPN that the 21-year-old had been informing opposing hitters of the pitches being thrown throughout at-bats within the recreation that eradicated Class A Fort Myers from playoff competition.
Sources confirmed the accuracy of the report, which indicated that Bender was informing hitters of pitches throughout a Sept. 6 recreation between the Mighty Mussels and the Lakeland Flying Tigers, the Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. Fort Myers misplaced that recreation, 6-0, after beginning pitcher Ross Dunn allowed 4 runs in 1 2/3 innings.
The Twins didn’t have any official touch upon the matter, with a crew spokesman indicating solely that Bender had been launched from the group on Friday.
Bender had been the Twins’ sixth-round Draft choice this previous July out of Coastal Carolina, signing with the group for a bonus of $297,500 earlier than he was activated to the Fort Myers roster on Aug. 6. He hit .200/.273/.333 with two homers and two doubles in 19 video games and didn’t seem within the Mighty Mussels’ last two video games of the season.
In line with the ESPN report, Bender had famous to teammates that he wished the season to be over, and the Twins discovered of the pitch tipping via members of the Lakeland teaching workers, with the scenario shifting as much as the higher ranges of the Minnesota entrance workplace thereafter.
That Sept. 6 recreation had been the ultimate loss in a seven-game dropping streak that dropped the Mussels out of playoff competition.