Cory Lewis shows the Twins the most peculiar knuckleball in history

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Pitching these days is all about high velocity, so it probably was no surprise that a group of Twins pitching coaches and staffers gathered behind right-handed prospect Cory Lewis on Saturday to watch him register some numbers they had never seen before.

“How he gets it up to that velocity, I don’t know,” marveled Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “Everybody pays attention when they know they’re going to see something exciting and different.”

Sure enough, they got it. Lewis, the Twins’ ninth-round pick in 2022, threw a pitch and the radar-tracking confirmed it: 85 mph. A couple of pitches later, Lewis hit 86. And before he finished, he showed off one that the equipment said reached 87 mph.

“I haven’t seen [a pitcher] like him in a long time,” said St. Paul Saints manager Toby Gardenhire, “so it’s fun watching Cory chuck that up there.”

OK, sure, Lewis’ attention-getter travels 15 mph slower than Jhoan Duran’s, but here’s the catch: Lewis’ doesn’t spin. It’s a knuckleball, a pitch known for its unpredictable flight path — even Lewis doesn’t know where it’s headed when he releases it. But most knuckleball pitchers in baseball history have thrown it far more slowly, in the high 60s and 70s range.

In fact, MLB’s StatCast system has never in its 17 seasons recorded a knuckleball in the majors faster than the 84.2-mph pitch that Padres righthander Matt Waldron threw last June. It becomes more difficult for pitchers to keep it from spinning as they throw it harder — but not for Lewis.

“I don’t really know where the velo came from. I’ve always thrown it hard,” Lewis said. “I started throwing it when I was 10, and then in high school it was always like 75 [mph], and in college [at UC-Santa Barbara] it was 80 or 81. And once I got to pro ball, it started to get to the mid-80s. And higher.”

“Higher” is where that pitch has taken Lewis, too. He debuted well in 2023 at Class A affiliates Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids in 2023, and after allowing a shoulder injury to heal, Lewis spent three months last season at Class AA Wichita, where he posted a 2.68 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 66 innings.

Now he figures to pitch for Gardenhire at Class AAA during much of 2025, and who knows after that? He’s got a weapon that MLB hitters have never seen before.

“Cory’s is a completely different version of the knuckleball than I’m familiar with,” Baldelli said. “His is a mid-80s [pitch]. It comes out almost like a fastball, but it’s not spinning. It’s very hard to catch and also difficult to hit.”

Especially since hitters don’t know when it’s coming. Unlike knuckleball masters of the past like Hall of Famers Phil Niekro and Hoyt Wilhelm, or former Twin and 2012 NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey, Lewis doesn’t throw the pitch 80% of the time, or more. His usage, he said, is closer to 25%; he’s got a fastball, curveball, changeup, slider and cutter, too.

“It’s such a good two-strike pitch, so it helps me get a lot of strikeouts,” Lewis said. “Most guys have never faced a knuckleball. It’s just so different for hitters to adjust to. You get a lot of: ‘What even is that?’ That makes it effective.”

So effective, in fact, that Lewis has never given up a home run with the pitch as a professional. Keep that up, and Lewis figures to be in Target Field before long.

Baldelli sounded intrigued.

“It’s obviously fun to see something in this game that you don’t see on a daily basis,” the manager said.

• The Twins will take a look at former Rays pitcher Erasmo Ramírez during camp as a possible bullpen arm, after signing the veteran righthander to a minor league contract Saturday. Ramírez, who turns 35 in May, has pitched for six teams in a 13-season career that included stints in the Rays and Mariners starting rotations. Ramírez posted a 4.35 ERA in 20⅔ innings, all in relief, for Tampa Bay last season.

• Twins owner Joe Pohlad arrived at camp Saturday and observed the team’s workout. It’s likely Pohlad’s final spring in charge of the Twins, as his family explores selling the franchise.