Former Twins minor leaguer accused of tipping pitches denies allegations, faces permanent ban from baseball
Minor league catcher Derek Bender is finally speaking out publicly after the Minnesota Twins released him in September amid allegations that he was tipping pitches to opposing hitters because he wanted his Single-A team’s season to be over.
Bender, who is currently out of professional baseball, denied the accusations in an interview with The Athletic.
“I’ll live with this until the day I die,” Bender told The Athletic’s Sam Blum. “I never gave pitches away. I never tried to give the opposing team an advantage against my own team.”
During the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels’ second game of a Sept. 6 doubleheader versus the Lakeland Flying Tigers, Bender tipped pitches by teammate Ross Dunn to hitters, ESPN reported. Lakeland scored four runs in the second inning and eventually prevailed 6-0, wining the Florida State League West Division. Over the season’s final three weeks, Fort Myers squandered a six-game division lead.
Afterwards, Lakeland coaches told Fort Myers coaches what Bender had done. Flying Tigers batters reportedly had no indication of Bender’s intentions beforehand, nor were there attempts by Lakeland players to steal signs.
Bender, 22. reportedly told teammates that he wanted the season to be over, ESPN reported. The catcher was banished to the Fort Myers bullpen for the final two games of the season, rather than be allowed in the dugout.
He admitted to The Athletic that he did want the season to be over and joked with teammates about letting ground balls go underneath their gloves. However, Bender insists that he wasn’t serious and was thinking more about an opportunity for a fresh start.
“A lot of us are coming off of college seasons, coming off of a pretty grueling summer schedule,” Bender added. “Then you get there and you’re hitting .200, you’re facing some of the best stuff consistently you’ve ever seen. You’re sinking or swimming, and you’re pretty close to sinking.”
Bender went right from Coastal Carolina’s 2024 season, in which the Chanticleers made the NCAA tournament but were eliminated in the first-round regionals to Clemson, to being drafted in the sixth round (No. 188 overall) of the 2024 MLB Draft. Bender was promptly assigned by the Twins to their Single-A affiliate.
A promising hitting prospect, Bender batted .200 with a .606 OPS and two home runs in 66 plate appearances (19 games) with Fort Myers. He hit .320/.422/.520 with 11 homers, 63 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 282 PAs (60 games) with Coastal Carolina.
Major League Baseball has been conducting an investigation of the allegations since they were reported. Bender would be in violation of Rule 21(a), which forbids players from intentionally acting to lose, or attempting to lose, games.
The league has discovered evidence against Bender in interviews with more than a dozen people during its investigation, according to The Athletic. If Bender is found to have committed any violations, he could face a permanent ban from baseball and would have to apply for reinstatement in a year.
