The Minnesota Twins signed Lewis Thorpe in July of 2012 out of Australia for a $500K bonus.
Thorpe made his stateside debut in the Gulf Coast League in 2013, making 12 appearances (8 starts), with a 2.05 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 6/64 BB/K ratio over 44 innings. That impressive debut got him ranked #101 by Baseball Prospectus in their top 101 prospects list in the offseason between 2013 and 2014.
In 2014, Thorpe moved up to Cedar Rapids as an 18 year-old, and he didn’t look overmatched at all in the jump up to full-season ball at such a young age after some time in extended spring.