Lewis Thorpe to Cedar Rapids

[Seth Stohs]

 

Following today's Cedar Rapids Kernels game, Jake Mauer informed media at the game that Felix Jorge and Derrick Penilla would be heading back to Extended Spring Training though he didn't know officially who was coming up.

 

I was able to confirm this afternoon that Thorpe had been promoted to Cedar Rapids.

 

Will there be a 2nd player? We'll find out. There is talk that Fernando Romero could be promoted. Some have guessed Stephen Gonsalves.

 

It's also possible that Yorman Landa could come off of the Disabled List.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Confirmed: Romero joins the Kernels.

 

Haven't been informed yet how they'll be used.

[gunnarthor]

Cool, good luck to Thorpe. Too bad about Jorge.

[righty8383]

Romero hasn't even played in the Appy league yet. Not that its a big deal or anything. I just assumed Gonsalves would get the call 1st. Maybe Romero has just outshined him by a decent margin throughout EST. Looking forward to seeing what these kids can do in the Midwest League.

 

Too bad about Jorge. Hopefully he can fix whatever has gone terribly wrong this year.

[Seth Stohs]

From my 8-days in Ft. Myers this spring, I thought Fernando was as impressive as anyone in the organization, including Kohl Stewart... Seeing that 95-96 on the radar gun was fun, but he's got a slider too. Very intrigued by him...

[DocBauer]

No problems with any of this, just a little disappointed and surprised to not see Gonsalves yet. Hope there is no bad news we haven't heard about yet.

[twinsfan34]

Pretty excited about this. The Thorpe promotion and Romero. I read a couple reports, one from Seth or TD and another, perhpas minor league ball and Romero looked great in ST.

 

If Berrios continues his dominance and you get Thorpe and Romero showing a handle on 'A' this year, could make for an interesting June/July 2015.

[gunnarthor]

Here's mlbpipeline's report on Romero:

 

"Romero has the stuff to be a starter. How much he can transition from being a thrower to a pitcher will determine if he can reach that ceiling.

 

The Dominican teenager can light up a radar gun, has plus action on his breaking ball and he has a workable changeup. The most consistent hard thrower in the system other than Alex Meyer, Romero could have a 70 fastball out of the bullpen, and his approach and style point to a life as a future reliever. He's starting to understand what it takes preparation and conditioning wise to be successful long-term, and he is realizing that there's more to his craft than just throwing hard.

The Twins will let Romero start for now, try to get him innings and increase his pitchability in the hopes a starter can emerge, but a career as a setup man is more likely"

[nicksaviking]

Is Romero going to start out of the gate? If he's going to start in the pen, perhaps that's why he got the nod over Gonsalves.

 

Aren't we still waiting for Yorman Landa to get a chance to start? Unless he's already been written off, the CR rotation is still kind of full to promote two new starters.

[Steven Buhr]

Hearing from source that both Romero and Thorpe WILL be in the rotation. The exact rotation isn't decided yet, but could look something like Slegers, Romero, Eades, Thorpe, Mildren, Stewart.

 

Probably won't know for sure for a day or two, since today is an off/travel day. But if that does turn out to be the rotation, it would mean Romero debuts in Wisconsin Thursday and Thorpe in Kane County on Saturday.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Thorpe goes to Cedar Rapids, eh?

 

An aggressive promotion for a team that often catches flak for its slow promotion of prospects. The guy is 18 and is now in low A.

[gunnarthor]

It's amazing. Stewart was the youngest pitcher in the league and Thorpe is 13 months younger than him.

[tobi0040]

Hearing from source that both Romero and Thorpe WILL be in the rotation. The exact rotation isn't decided yet, but could look something like Slegers, Romero, Eades, Thorpe, Mildren, Stewart.

 

Probably won't know for sure for a day or two, since today is an off/travel day. But if that does turn out to be the rotation, it would mean Romero debuts in Wisconsin Thursday and Thorpe in Kane County on Saturday.

 

Looking like a great rotation down there.

[AScheib50]

Hearing from source that both Romero and Thorpe WILL be in the rotation. The exact rotation isn't decided yet, but could look something like Slegers, Romero, Eades, Thorpe, Mildren, Stewart.

 

Probably won't know for sure for a day or two, since today is an off/travel day. But if that does turn out to be the rotation, it would mean Romero debuts in Wisconsin Thursday and Thorpe in Kane County on Saturday.

 

Looks like I will be heading over to Fifth Third Bank Ballpark on Saturday to catch that Cougars matchup!

[Dance with Disco Dan]

Thorpe goes to Cedar Rapids, eh?

 

An aggressive promotion for a team that often catches flak for its slow promotion of prospects. The guy is 18 and is now in low A.

 

I agree and can only conclude that Thorpe has looked VERY sharp and prepared in EST. That makes me all the more excited to see what he can do.

 

I was sorry to see Felix Jorge get battered like he did but I am happy that he has been sent back to EST to rest and regroup. Things were not turning around for him in CR.

[kab21]

Jorge was sitting at 88-89 last week in relief when I saw a game. Between him and Eades it was a pretty disappointing night for pitching. Eades had an overpowering fastball for the low A hitters but I'm not sure if he made one hitter look foolish with a breaking pitch or changeup.

 

I'm very excited about Lewis Thorpe.

[TRex]

Wow, that is really bad news regarding Jorge's fastball. He may not have a specific injury, but something must be contributing to his decreased velocity. How was his extension?

[diehardtwinsfan]

Thorpe goes to Cedar Rapids, eh?

 

An aggressive promotion for a team that often catches flak for its slow promotion of prospects. The guy is 18 and is now in low A.

 

 

Think about this way... If he was a US citizen, he'd be in this year's draft as a HS prep guy.

 

Also of note, according to scouts, he'd be a first rounder too. It's looking like the Twins really got something good here.

[Steven Buhr]

Media Notes just distributed by the Kernels confirm the new rotation as:

 

Romero (1st start) tonight @ Wisconsin

Eades Friday @ Wisconsin

Thorpe (1st start) Saturday @ Kane County

Mildren Sunday @ KC

Stewart Monday @ KC

[TRex]

Media Notes just distributed by the Kernels confirm the new rotation as:

 

Romero (1st start) tonight @ Wisconsin

Eades Friday @ Wisconsin

Thorpe (1st start) Saturday @ Kane County

Mildren Sunday @ KC

Stewart Monday @ KC

 

Do you think it will be Slegers on (Tuesday) then to complete the 6-man rotation?

[Shane Wahl]

Romero, Thorpe, and Stewart are going to be legitimate major league pitchers, with Romero being a reliever and Thorpe and Stewart being starters. Calling it now. Eades and Mildren won't get past AA.

[Steven Buhr]

Do you think it will be Slegers on (Tuesday) then to complete the 6-man rotation?

 

Yes. Slegers pitched last night, so he'd be the 6th man for the homestand opener vs QC on Tuesday.

[Shane Wahl]

And Slegers is debatable. I can see him getting to the big leagues as a reliever and being very good. But as a starter, I don't think it will last past Fort Myers.

[jokin]

Thorpe goes to Cedar Rapids, eh?

 

An aggressive promotion for a team that often catches flak for its slow promotion of prospects. The guy is 18 and is now in low A.

 

When the prospect rankings came out, people were wondering if his lofty ranking was all hype. The kid just blew up in the fall and winter in connection to international and Australian baseball, after a ridiculously good GCL stint. After then seeing him on video, I was in the other camp that said he probably should be the highest pitching prospect in the organization not named Meyer or Stewart, eclipsing Berrios. Give the Twins credit for forgoing E-Town (for now, anyway) and giving the kid a shot- I'm willing to advise and extend my negative remarks about the typical propsect-slow-play if the Twins keep pushing this kid.

 

Any kind of success here, and Thorpe could be on the fast track, possibly even shooting right through High A and AA next year- he'd be slightly less than 3 months shy of his 20th birthday on September 1st, 2015. I think we'd have to go back to Bert Blyleven in 1970 to see the last teenager starter for the Twins? I'm sure the Twins will keep close track of his innings, but a guy can dream.....Hey Pelfrey will be off the books after 2015 and Deduno will be arb eligible in 2016- which will undoubtedly make the Twins strongly consider that it's time to move on, the field should be very clear by opening day, 2016.

[Brock Beauchamp]

After then seeing him on video, I was in the other camp that said he probably should be the highest pitching prospect in the organization not named Meyer or Stewart, eclipsing Berrios.

 

With every passing day, I'm more convinced the only guy on the list in front of Thorpe should be Meyer.

 

Stewart is great. I'm not knocking him... But an 18 year old lefty with command that throws in the mid-90s? Yes, please.

 

After the graduation of Arcia last season, Thorpe almost immediately took the title of "dark horse with massive upside" in my eyes.

[jokin]

With every passing day, I'm more convinced the only guy on the list in front of Thorpe should be Meyer.

 

Stewart is great. I'm not knocking him... But an 18 year old lefty with command that throws in the mid-90s? Yes, please.

 

After the graduation of Arcia last season, Thorpe almost immediately took the title of "dark horse with massive upside" in my eyes.

 

I'm with you and will be easily swayed when it becomes obvious, for now, I'll lean towards the potential A&M American quarterback until he proves he's being eclipsed by the Aussie-upstart......definitely nice (and convenient!) to see them competing in the same setting. And it will be extra nice when the national services get the memo and begin to confirm what we are seeing and move Thorpe onto some Top 100 lists. Callis and Mayo at MLB.com still apparently don't even have Thorpe in the Twins Top 20 lists.

[gunnarthor]

. Callis and Mayo at MLB.com still apparently don't even have Thorpe in the Twins Top 20 lists.

They have him at #6.

[jokin]

They have him at #6.

 

Yep. My bad, I googled "Mlb.com Twins Top 20" and they sent me right to the....2013 list....

[gunnarthor]

Yep. My bad, I googled "Mlb.com Twins Top 20" and they sent me right to the....2013 list....

It's part of Comcast's plan to get you a better internet

[gunnarthor]

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Comment From Ian

Where would Lewis Thorpe (18 year old Australian in MN system) go in this draft?

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Chris Crawford:

Probably not today, but probably not around for very long on Friday.

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