Cory Lewis made his professional debut in 2023. It went well. He was named the Jim Rantz Minor League Pitcher of the Year by the Twins and the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. In the latest Twins Spotlight, we spoke with the right-hander about a ton of topics, including his unique pitch mix.
Image courtesy of Twins Spotlight Video of Cory Lewis showing off his knuckeball catch.
Cory Lewis grew up in Huntington Beach, California and went to Marina High School. If Lewis were to make it to the major leagues, he would be the eighth player from this school to do so. Maybe you remember first round picks like Marc Newfield Or Daric Barton. Craig Wilson was a second-round pick and spent seven seasons in the big leagues. Brewers recent acquisition Jake Bauers I went to Marina’s house.
The Marina High School player with the longest big league career has ties to the Twins. Pat Corning was the Twins’ shortstop when Ken Griffey Jr.robbed Laura Ingalls Wilder’s husband of a home run Randy Johnson in a playoff game. You remember, the manager of the Twins at that time was Pete Crow Armstronghis mother’s son, Billy Heywood. (Let me know if you have any of this. Kevin Elster I went to Marina High. He spent parts of 13 seasons in the big leagues, his most memorable with the Mets.
Lewis spent four seasons on Marina’s varsity team. In addition to pitching, he also played a lot of first base. He had a strong sophomore season and that summer he committed to play at UC-Santa Barbara. He loved the location of the school. Not only was it close to the beach, but it was also close to home, and her parents could enjoy most of her games. In addition, he really appreciated the technical staff.
When he arrived on campus as a freshman in 2019, his eyes were opened. At Fall Ball, he learned he had a lot of work to do. First and foremost, after doing the conditioning and seeing the other players, he knew he needed to get in much better shape. The plan was for Lewis to redshirt in 2020.
Lewis said: “The biggest thing was I had to do a lot more work. When I got there I was a little out of shape, a little heavier, the bike was broken. Everything was going wrong when I arrived. Having that time during Covid to reset and get my body back into good shape, I think that really helped me my sophomore year and junior year.
He went on to say that he “was fortunate to have a good support system in Santa Barbara. I was able to follow a very good lifting program. I think the most important thing was to watch what I eat, cut out soda and take nutrition much more seriously.
He had a strong support system. This is especially true for his parents, his brothers and his girlfriend. His youngest of two older brothers, Chad, was the Oakland A’s fourth-round draft pick in 2010 out of Marina High School. He was always willing to talk to Cory about things like the draft process, minor league ball, things to watch, etc. His older brother, Troy, was someone who was a great listener and always there for him.
He entered his second season in much better shape. The playoffs that year were four-game series, with single games on Friday and Sunday and a doubleheader on Saturday. He started on Sunday at the start of the season. He went 7-4 with a 3.38 ERA.
As a junior in 2023, he took over as the team’s starter on Friday nights. Michael McGreevy And Rodney Boone were out of school after being drafted in 2021. He took it as a challenge to “be that ace the team needed and set the tone for the weekend.”
He responded by making 16 starts and going 9-1 with a 3.57 ERA.
He had to wait until Day 2, the ninth round, before hearing his name called by the Twins. He quickly signed with Fort Myers but spent the rest of the season working with coaches, training staff and others. They used technology, video and analytics to establish a baseline for his current presentations.
He started the 2023 season in Fort Myers. He made nine starts and went 4-3 with a 2.75 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. In 39 1/3 innings, he walked 15 and struck out 55 batters. He moved to Cedar Rapids and continued to pitch well. In 13 starts, he went 5-1 with a 2.32 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. In 62 innings, he had 18 walks and 63 strikeouts.
I’ll do the math for you. Overall, he went 9-4 with a 2.49 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. He pitched 101 1/3 innings and had 118 strikeouts with just 33 walks. Clearly, those are the kind of numbers that made him the easy choice for Twins minor league pitcher of the year.
Let’s talk a little about his pitches. Here are some notes on his five-pitch mix.
Four-seam fastball
In mid-January, Lewis was one of several Twins prospects to travel to Fort Myers for velocity camp. In college, his fastball was usually between 88 and 92. He said, “Everyone wants to throw harder. My goal was to be in the 92-94 range, and I had several matches like that. Now I just have to be consistent.
As you can see, he actually grips his four-seam fastball on the opposite wires, like most pitchers do. However, he is capable of rolling around the field well. 
To change
Lewis has a very loose grip on his changeup. The only pressure on the ball comes from the ring finger which he says “does most of the work”. This tone tends to descend downwards. 
curve ball
Lewis uses a spiked, curveball grip. The pointer finger is bent and his nails are almost digging into the ball.
Slide
The slider is a pitch he added during his junior season. It looks like a cutter but has more depth. 
Knuckleball
When Phil Niekro And Tim Wakefield they threw knuckleballs, that’s basically all they threw. Sure, maybe a fastball here and there (around 72 mph), but not much. Just floating knuckles at 52 mph.
First of all, Cory Lewis throws a knuckleball, but he’s not a typical knuckleball thrower. He’s a pitcher who throws a knuckleball. For Lewis, his knuckleball is one throw from his five-pitch repertoire. In fact, in most games he only throws the pitch about 12% of the time. The other thing that makes Lewis’ knuckler so intriguing is the fact that he throws it at a speed of 82 to 85 mph. This is a very high speed knuckleball. Even if it is thrown this hard, it is able to keep the pitch’s RPM around 150. 
In fact, in his playoff debut, he threw the knuckleball at 88 mph. “It’s been the same since I started throwing it. Even in college it was probably between 80 and 83 mph. To be at 88 is kind of crazy.”
He remembers the batter swinging awkwardly on the pitch that was in the zone. After missing the pitch, the batter looked at him with a “What was that?” ” look.
Who are the recent knuckleball throws in the big leagues. Would you struggle to name a few from the last decade? At the end of the 2023 season, the San Diego Padres called up the right-hander Matt Waldron. He throws a knuckleball about 27.0% of the time at an average speed of 76.6 mph). Waldrop threw a high-90s fastball about 44% of the time, an 80 mph slider 16% of the time and a cutter about 13% of the time.
Similar, but Cory Lewis remains unique with his pitch mix. feel free to discuss Lewis, his background, his business and project his future in the comments below. Who knows? Maybe it will even answer some of your questions.
