Cory Lewis making opposing batters knuckle under

CEDAR RAPIDS — It has to be the most eclectic pitch mix in minor league baseball. All of baseball.

A lot of it has to do with Cory Lewis using the most unique pitch in baseball.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels pitcher has a fastball that sits around 91 to 92 miles per hour and has carry to it. He has a changeup, slider and curveball.

So far, so normal.

But then you add a knuckleball to his arsenal. Not just a knuckleball, but one that he throws hard, somewhere in the low-80s.

“It’s tough to game plan for him because you aren’t sure what you’re looking for,” said Kernels Manager Brian Dinkelman, after Lewis helped Cedar Rapids to a 7-2 win Wednesday afternoon over South Bend at Veterans Memorial Stadium. “He’s got that knuckleball, which you don’t see very often. It makes it tough for hitters.”

If you aren’t aware, the knuckleball is a pitch that has little to no spin on it. Because of that, its movement is generally unpredictable and difficult for a catcher to catch.

Charlie Hough, Tim Wakefield, and brothers Phil and Joe Niekro are the best known knuckleballers in modern baseball history. They threw the pitch almost all of the time.

Lewis is different in that he throws a knuckler only at times.

“When I was about 10 years old, there was, it was like a Pony (League) all-star practice, and I just started messing around with it,” the right-hander said. “Since then, I’ve just kept it. My high school coaches allowed me to throw it, my college coaches liked it. When I got here, it was the same thing. They like it, so I throw it.”

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The parent Minnesota Twins drafted Lewis in the ninth round last year out of the University of California-Santa Barbara. He made his pro debut this season and pitched to a 2.75 earned run average and .179 opponent batting average in nine starts for low-Class A Fort Myers, striking out 55 guys in 39 1/3 innings.

That earned him a promotion to high-A Cedar Rapids, where he has made two starts. He threw five shutout innings last week at Dayton and gave up two hits and a scratch run here, striking out nine.

“I think the part that has been good is that all of my stuff has been in the zone,” Lewis said. “It gives hitters a tough time. Five pitches is a lot to look for. And probably just upping my usage of the knuckleball, too: these last two starts probably 15 to 20 percent of the time. Knuckeballs are hard to hit and hard to catch.”

Which is why Andrew Cossetti was the catcher Wednesday. He caught Lewis earlier this season at Fort Myers.

“He’s had two starts now, and they both have been really good,” Dinkelman said. “He attacks the zone, and you throw that knuckleball in there, he gets some swing and miss. He works quick and gets outs. He did a nice job today.”

The Kernels (34-25) inched closer to the Midwest League Western Division first-half championship, getting a three-run home run from Ben Ross, as part of a four-run fifth inning that helped them overcome a slight 1-0 deficit. Cossetti also homered for Cedar Rapids, a majestic drive in the sixth that hit the netting protecting the scoreboard in right-center field.

An immediate distance reading on the home run wasn’t available, but Dinkelman estimated it had to travel 430 to 440 feet.

Going into Wednesday night’s MWL play, the Kernels had a 4 1/2-game lead on Peoria for first place in the division and 5 1/2-game edge on South Bend and Quad Cities. Cedar Rapids has seven first-half games remaining, including four more against South Bend: Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon.

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