MINNESOTA, USA — A Lebanon County native is now searching for his next professional baseball team.
The Minnesota Twins released Cedar Crest High School graduate, Derek Fisher, over the weekend. He had previously signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the offseason.
Fisher, 28, only hit .158 over 95 at-bats with the Twins' Triple-A affiliate, the St. Paul Saints, before being released.
Drafted as the 37th overall pick in 2014 by the Houston Astros after attending the University of Virginia, Fisher was also traded in 2019 to the Blue Jays after helping the Astros win the World Series in 2017.
So far in his Major League career, the left-handed swinging Fisher has struggled at the plate, hitting only .195 with 17 home runs over 466 plate appearances.
However, at the Triple-A level, Fisher has hit .272 with 54 home runs over 1,246 plate appearances with a .361 on-base percentage, showing much more consistency over a longer period of time before this season.
Hamstring and calf injuries limited Fisher to 25 games at Triple-A, where he struggled, and only four games with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2021.
Fisher has played primarily off the bench in his five-year Major League career, never appearing in more than 57 games in a season or totaling more than 167 plate appearances.
Most of his appearances defensively have come in left field, but Fisher has also appeared in center and right field over his four seasons.
Now, he is searching for his next team.
