Lewis Thorpe

[FormerMinnasotan]

So, I haven't heard much about Lewis Thorpe other than he is on Ceder Rapids DL. So I have a few questions about him.

 

1.When is his timetable for his return and is he going start out in Ceder Rapids?

 

2.What are reasonable expectations for him this season? I don't want to have a knee jerk reaction if he should struggle some, but I just would like to know what would be positive progress to look for?

 

3.What innings limit would be put up for him? Would the Twins like to see Thorpe pitch about the same amount of innings as he did in 2014?

[Brock Beauchamp]

Someone mentioned mid-May to me a few days ago. No idea if that is accurate or not.

 

Don't expect much from him this season. He'll pitch few innings, his breaking stuff will probably be crap (a common short-term problem during TJ recovery), and he may or may not have his mid-90s velocity back right off the bat.

 

What I'd watch for early in the season is how many innings he pitches, whether his fastball looks okay, and then later, whether his velocity and control begin to return. A great recovery is that he finishes August with dominating strikeout numbers again. A more likely recovery is that he finishes August with "okay" numbers but continues to look better as the season progresses.

 

As for innings pitched, I'd be surprised if he gets to 100 this season.

[Bob Sacamento]

Last I saw, Thorpe was still here in Fort Myers rehabbing, he's been on the Twins' TJ protocol which is pretty regiment from the sounds of it - certain benchmarks of when to throw, how to throw, how many to throw, what to throw, etc.  The good news is he is at least throwing on flat ground at this point.  Hope to see him throw in an extended spring game soon.