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E-mail This StoryLANCASTER, Pa. — When minor league pitcher Paul Thorp was released by the New York Yankees last year, he was not ready to end his professional baseball career.
The Newman Smith graduate signed on with the Somerset (N.J.) Patriots of the Atlantic League, an eight-team independent circuit in the northeast United States.
Thorp, from Carrollton, had advanced as high as the Double-A level in the Yankee system after he was drafted out of Baylor in 2002. He spent more than five seasons in the New York chain.
He ended the 2007 season with Somerset and on June 2 of this season signed with the Lancaster (Pa.) Barnstormers, also in the Atlantic League.
“From what I have found, with this league, the hitters I believe are at the Double A or Triple A level,” Thorp said prior to a recent game in Lancaster. “There are more experienced hitters here than in Double-A.”
Thorp, a reliever, signed with Somerset last season thanks to his connections to Scott Aldred, his pitching coach with the Double-A Trenton (N.J.) Thunder in the Yankee system. Aldred once pitched for Somerset and put Thorp in touch with the Patriots.
Thorp was 2-4 with an ERA of 2.68 in 35 games last season for Somerset and manager Sparky Lyle, the 1977 American League Cy Young Award winner who played for the Red Sox, Yankees, Rangers, Phillies and White Sox during his career.
Lyle has been the Somerset manager since 1998 and Thorp hoped to pitch for him again this season.
But when there was no spot for Thorp he stayed in Texas and worked out with personal trainer Shane Wallace, a Newman Smith graduate and a former minor league pitcher. Thorp also pitched in a men’s adult league while waiting for another shot at pro ball.
A spot opened up with Lancaster a few weeks ago and Thorp is now pitching out of the bullpen for manager Von Hayes and pitching coach Rick Wise, both of whom played more than 10 years in the major leagues.
Thorp lives with a host family and arrives at Clipper Magazine Stadium, the home of the Barnstormers, about five hours before each home game.
Thorp allowed one hit and no runs in 1.1 innings of work at home July 2 in an 11-2 loss to Somerset. The Patriots lineup included Brandon Larson, a former third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds.
In his first seven games with Lancaster, he was 0-1 with an ERA of 4.42 in 12.2 innings of work, with one start. Thorp had allowed 14 hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Thorp throws a fastball around 90 miles per hour and also has a slider and change up. He has lost about 25 pounds since the end of last season. Thorp entered this season with a career ERA of 2.66 and said getting picked up by an affiliated league is realistic.
“I believe it is. I don’t want to sound ignorant but I have put up good numbers in my career,” he said.
David Driver is a free-lance writer in Maryland. He can be reached through his website at www.davidsdriver.com
