The Minnesota Twins have been betrayed by their minor league catcher Derek Bender, who reportedly revealed the types of pitches to the opposite teams' hitters to be thrown by Ross Dunn. Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan of ESPN revealed to fans that the Twins have now decided to release their sixth-round draft pick out of Coastal Carolina in July.
During the game on September 6, Bender was playing for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, however, it seemed that he was more interested in the victory of the Lakeland Flying Tigers rather than his team. In the second inning, Lakeland ended up earning four runs and the sources later revealed that the Fort Myers' coaches were told about Bender's actions by Lakeland's coaches.
The fans were surprised and questioned the reasoning behind Bender's actions.
"Talk about one of the dumbest ways to self-sabotage with absolutely no benefit," one fan said.
Bro what the f*** iis he doing lmao that’s wild," another fan stated.
Some other fans also shared the same sentiment about his actions.
"Literally why would he do this," one fan asked.
"The only way this makes sense if he secretly hates baseball and wanted to give himself a black mark so nobody could pressure him to going pro ever again," one fan opined.
"Why play baseball if you hate baseball," one fan remarked.
"Dude was just paying tribute to Spacejam," one fan mentioned.
Derek Bender thanked his family after getting drafted by the Minnesota Twins
As per the sources, nobody asked Derek Bender to give his opponents tips for the upcoming pitches. Allegedly, Bender talked to his teammates about how he wanted the season to be over as soon as possible. This might be a deliberate attempt to fulfill his wish.
Bender, however, seemed quite excited to be part of the Twins in the coming future.
"This was probably one of the longest days of my life up until this point,” Bender told My Horry News. “Nothing prepares you for that moment. The rise of emotion that I got just being around everybody… today isn’t just about me. It’s about my parents, my family, friends and coaches, everyone who has gotten me to this point. It was awesome to see them excited."
The intention behind his actions is unknown, and it's better to wait for the official statement on the matter from the player.