Former University of Maine All-America East first team pitcher Cody Laweryson said his offseason was “interesting, to say the least.”
Despite posting a 1.17 earned-run average in five appearances in his Major League debut with the Minnesota Twins at the end of last season, he was released by the Twins and selected off waivers by the Los Angeles Angels.
But a few days before he was to report to the Angels’ spring training camp in Arizona, they released him.
“I had several options to sign a minor league deal but, at the end of the day, I was real comfortable with the Twins,” Laweryson said.
He signed with the Twins and has made their Major League roster.
“They told me they had an open bullpen,” Laweryson said.
He made five appearances for the Twins last season and allowed four hits and one earned run over 7 ⅔ innings with seven strikeouts and no walks.
“They saw the success I had last year in a pretty small sample and that gave them a little more confidence in me,” Laweryson said Friday during an off day in Baltimore. “They told me if I came back, I would have a chance to break (spring training) with the (Major League) team.”
And if not, the Twins told him there will be chances down the road to “really help out their bullpen in the future,” Laweryson said.
“That was a real selling point for me,” he added. “I’m comfortable in their organization and that really helped as well.”
Laweryson was competing for one of the final spots in the bullpen, and he earned it by tossing 7 ⅔ innings of six-hit, one-run ball with seven strikeouts and one walk.
“Obivously I was going to have to throw well in spring training to earn that spot,” said the 27-year-old native of Moscow, Maine, who was a multi-sport star at Bingham’s Valley High School.
And he did.
“I’m ahead of schedule from where I usually am at this time. I’m a little bit of a slow starter (velocity)-wise, but it has been where it was at the end of last season, around 93-94 miles an hour,” Laweryson said. “I can get up to 95 but it takes a little extra. That has helped me get to the spot where I am now. I knew I had to ramp-up early and make sure I was ready to go and be able to compete for a spot,” Laweryson said.
He said being called up last September and getting five Major League appearances has “helped a ton.”
He was a 14th-round draft choice of the Twins and the 419th overall selection in 2019.
“Having that small amount of success gives me a lot of confidence. The first time you get called up, it’s special,” Laweryson said about his first stint in the big leagues. “The second time around, you’re a little less nervous and more excited.”
He didn’t get to pitch in Thursday’s opening-day 2-1 loss to the Orioles. He has signed a one-year Major League contract with the Twins.
“It will be pro-rated between AAA and the big leagues,” said Laweryson, who will continue to rely on his four-seam fastball, slider and change-up.
He is not sure what his role will be out of the bullpen but said he can provide flexibility.
“I can go two or three innings if the starter can’t go as long as they needed him to go or I could go in high-leverage spots,” he said, referring to late-inning situations. “I will be ready for that as well.”
He has several friends in the Twins organization that he has played with at the various minor league levels as well as the Major Leagues.
He was pleased to hear that his former UMaine teammate, Brewer’s Matt Pushard, earned a roster spot for the St. Louis Cardinals. Laweryson sent his former teammate a congratulatory message.
“We’ve come a long way. That’s for sure,” said the 6-foot-4, 205-pound righthander, who has 154 games of minor league experience in the Twins organization and has a 16-16 record with a 3.39 earned run average spanning 327 innings.
Laweryson is looking forward to their series against the Cardinals on June 12-14 as well as a series on May 18-20 against the Houston Astros and former UMaine teammate Jeremy Pena, who is the Astros’ All-Star shortstop.
“But there is still a long ways to go until that could potentially happen. There could be a lot of back and forth,” Laweryson said about shuffling between the major and minor leagues. “That’s the kind of business it is.”
