Ex-Twins minor leaguer Derek Bender denies giving away pitches - ESPN

Derek Bender, the former Minnesota Twins minor league catcher who is under MLB investigation for telling opposing hitters what pitches were coming, denied the allegations in an interview with The Athletic as he remains out of professional baseball.

«No,» Bender told The Athletic, in an interview published Thursday, when asked if he gave away pitches to opposing batters. «And I'll live with this until the day I die. I never gave pitches away. I never tried to give the opposing team an advantage against my own team.»

Bender, a sixth-round draft pick out of Coastal Carolina in July, was playing for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, the Twins' Single-A affiliate. In the second game of a Sept. 6 doubleheader, Bender told multiple hitters for the Lakeland Flying Tigers, a Detroit farm team, the specific pitches being thrown by starter Ross Dunn, sources told ESPN at the time.

Lakeland scored four runs in the second inning and won the game 6-0 to clinch the Florida State League West division and eliminate the Mighty Mussels from playoff contention. Fort Myers coaches were notified by Lakeland coaches about Bender's pitch tipping after the game, sources told ESPN at the time.

Sources told ESPN that Bender had told teammates he wanted the season to be over. In his interview with The Athletic, Bender said he joked to teammates about letting a ground ball go under their glove, but said he wasn't serious.

Major League Baseball's investigation of the incident continues, according to The Athletic, and Bender could face a permanent ban from the league.

«I had to go dark for at least three days,» Bender told The Athletic of the reaction to the initial story. «I had to private all my social media accounts. I was getting death threats and