Atlanta Braves moves before the Faux Winter Meetings
By Fred Owens
Atlanta Braves Simulated trade – Matt Kemp to the Twins
Old friend Ben Chase is Twins GM for the simulation. He expressed a need for a DH and I offered Matt Kemp. The negotiation took nearly two weeks to complete but in the end the Twins received Kemp, minor league catcher Brett Cumberland and $18M ($9m for two years.) In return the Braves received lefty starter Lewis Thorpe and right reliever Tom Hackimer.
Thorpe is 6’1″ 160 pound lefty from Melbourne Australia, signed by the Twins as a 16-year-old international free agent back in 2012. He made eight starts and four relief appearances in rookie ball the following year posting a 2.05 ERA and followed that up in Australian League winter ball.
Entering 2014 Baseball Prospectus made him the 101st ranked prospect and the Twins promoted him to A ball. He made 16 starts with Cedar Rapids throwing 71 2/3 innings, striking out 80 (10 K/9) and walked 36 finishing with a 3.56 ERA and a torn UCL. Even injured BP ranked him their #99 prospect.
The 2015 season vanished into rehab following the surgery and a knee injury and mononucleosis during rehab cost him 2016 the entire as well. Thorpe entered the 2017 season not having thrown a meaningful pitch since 2014 but it didn’t seem to bother him.
He spent most of the year in A+ ball, made 16 starts and one relief appearance in the FSL pitching to a 2.69 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and posting a 9.82 K/9 ratio.
Thorpe relies on a mid-90s fastball, a plus changeup with sink and fade as well as an improving slider and curveball. He turned 21 on Thanksgiving day and has plenty of time to work on those pitches. He’ll start the year at Pearl.
Tom is no Hack
The Twins selected the 5′ 11″, 190 pound Hackimer in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. A native of Hyde Park New York, Hackimer attended St John’s and worked as a reliever for the Red Storm.
Over his four years at St. John’s he made 124 appearances throwing 160 innings with a 2.42 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Hackimer didn’t give up a home run and posted 9.9 K/9 rate in his 36 saves.
The Twins skipped rookie ball and slotted him directly into the bullpen in A ball. In 21 appearances he posted a 2.39 ERA in 26 1/3 innings and gave up his first home run since leaving high school; he hasn’t given one up since.
He started 2017 in A ball but earned a promotion to A+ ball in June. In 27 appearances for Fort Myers he racked up seven saves while pitching to a 1.93 ERA, 1.02 WHIP with a 10.4 K/9 rate.
The numbers might lead you to think Hackimer’s another in a long line of power arms. Not so, he throws from a low sidearm delivery that will give right-handed hitters fits. His throws a sinker at 88-91 mph with serious movement ad backs it up with a traditional slider; lots of slide not much break.
Hackimer’s success come from his willingness to attack the zone; he throws strikes with pitches that move and strikes hitters out. Hackimer turns 25 next June and will join Thorpe with Mississippi.