Twins Release Minor Lague Catcher Derek Bender For Allegedly Tipping Pitches

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The Minnesota Twins have cut ties with one of their prospects over allegations that he was tipping pitches to opposing hitters in Single-A Ball.

Derek Bender was selected by the Twins in the sixth round of this year's MLB Draft after spending his collegiate career at Coastal Carolina.

After leaving the college ranks, Bender was assigned to the Twins' Single-A league affiliate, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (that's a fantastic minor league baseball name), however, the Big League team released him on Thursday, and according to a report from ESPN, this was because he was allegedly tipping pitches.

Bender was behind the dish for them during the second game of a doubleheader on September 6 against the Lakeland Flying Tigers — a Detroit Tigers affiliate, but you'd probably do that math — which the Mighty Mussels lost 6-0, thanks in large part to a 4-run second inning.

The game was hugely consequential too, as the Flying Tigers won the Florida State League West Division and caused Fort Myers to miss out on the playoffs completely, despite having held a six-game lead just a few weeks before the game.

However, after the games, Lakeland's coaching staff did some tipping of their own and dropped a dime on Bender by telling the Mighty Mussels staff that he had been telling some of their hitters the exact pitches that were going to be coming from Fort Myers pitcher Ross Dunn.

Minnesota Twins prospect Derek Bender was released by the team on Thursday and it was allegedly because he was tipping pitches to opponents.. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)

According to the report, the Flying Tigers aren't accused of any wrongdoing, and their players were reportedly surprised by Bender's alleged attempts to tip pitches.

After the game in question, there were still two games left on the Mighty Mussels schedule, and Bender spent those in the team's bullpen before being released on Thursday. 

Neither Bender nor the Twins have released any comments on the situation.

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.