Pat Neshek
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| Minnesota Twins — No. 17 | |
| Relief Pitcher | |
| Born: September 4, 1980 | |
| Bats: Switch | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| July 7, 2006 for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through May 10, 2008) |
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| Win-Loss | 11-5 |
| Earned Run Average | 2.91 |
| Strikeouts | 142 |
| Teams | |
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Patrick F. Neshek (born September 4, 1980 in Madison, Wisconsin) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. At the age of five, Neshek and his family moved to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and he was a Twins fan as well as a fan of the Oakland A's as a child. His family held season tickets at the Metrodome for seven years. Neshek is a 1999 graduate of Park Center Senior High School in Minnesota. At Park Center High School, he was named to the All-State team. At Butler University, Neshek was a three year letter winner and holds school records for strikeouts in a single-game (18 vs. Detroit, April 15, 2001), strikeouts in a single-season (118, 2001) and career (280) strikeout records. During the 2005 season, Neshek led all minor league Twins players in saves.
Neshek was originally selected by Minnesota Twins in the 45th Round (1337th overall) of the 1999 amateur entry draft, but Neshek didn't sign and went onto Butler. Neshek was later drafted in the sixth round of the June 2002 amateur draft as the 182nd overall pick. He signed with the Twins that year and was assigned to the Twins Class A team. Neshek spent four years in the minor leagues, pitching 234.2 innings in 173 games. In those 234.2 innings, Neshek accumulated 280 strikeouts, a 16-12 record and an ERA of just 2.23.
In his major league debut, Neshek pitched two innings and allowed just one hit. On July 30, 2006, Neshek got his first career win against the Detroit Tigers after he only pitched ⅓ of an inning.
Neshek is an avid autograph collector and has run a personal website/blog since 2004. [1]
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[edit] 2007 season
Neshek began his 2007 season posting a 2-0 April record with a 2.25 earned run average. In May he gave up six hits in 13.2 innings pitched, had eighteen strikeouts and posted a very impressive 0.66 ERA.[2] On July 1, 2007 Neshek was chosen to be 1 of the 5 players in the final vote for the All-Star game along with Jeremy Bonderman, Kelvim Escobar, Roy Halladay, and Hideki Okajima. The spot went to Okajima, despite a campaign by Twins fans and national sports blogs to "Pitch in for Pat".[3] Neshek finished third in voting.
Neshek recorded his first loss of the season against the New York Yankees on July 5. After losing to the Yankees, Neshek won three games in fourteen days improving his record to 6-1. He posted a 3.97 ERA during the month of July. In August Neshek had 10.2 innings pitched, gave up ten hits and blew his third save. He lost his second game but won his seventh game bringing his season record to 7-2, posting a 5.06 ERA for the month. In September Neshek gave up ten hits in 9.0 innings pitched, had only six strikeouts with a 6.00 ERA. Neshek's final appearance of 2007 was on September 16, when he pitched two thirds of an inning and gave up two earned runs against the Detroit Tigers in a losing effort. On September 20, the Minnesota Twins shut Neshek down for the season because of shoulder/elbow fatigue.[4]
Neshek ended the season with a 7-2 win/loss record appearing in 74 games for a total of 70.1 innings pitched.[5]
[edit] 2008 Season
Neshek began the season with high hopes. His first three appearances he allowed only one hit in 3.1 innings pitched and had a 0.00 ERA. His next appearance against the Chicago White Sox, he allowed three earned runs in 0.2 innings. It seemed as if the bad performance versus the White Sox was a fluke when he pitched against the Royals. He recorded two strikeouts and allowed no runs in an inning pitched. But just when he got everything going again, Neshek hit a bump in the road. The next appearance Pat had was against the Detroit Tigers. In that appearance, he took the loss after allowing two runs on three hits in an inning pitched. For his next seven appearances, Neshek wouldn't allow a run. In his second-to-last appearance of the season, Pat gave up a run (which was a home run by Curtis Granderson). On May 8, Pat would pitch for the final time in 2008. Facing the White Sox again, Neshek allowed a run and pitched 0.2 innings but was pulled after feeling something "tweak and roll over" in his elbow. After the game, Neshek was scheduled for an MRI. With those results, it was determined that Pat had an acute tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, which is the ligament replaced when Tommy John Surgery is required. It has been stated by the Twins and Neshek that surgery is not going to be necessary but Pat has been placed on the disabled list as of May 10 and he will not pitch again this season. [6]
[edit] Pitching Style
Neshek has a very unorthodox style of delivery that could best be described as something between side-arm and submarine. He developed it after being struck in the forearm with a ball in high school by C.J. Woodrow (a Philadelphia Phillies farmhand). He then began to throw side arm and play shortstop due to his injury. When it healed, he couldn't change back to over the shoulder and his unique delivery stayed the way it is. He still has a lump in his forearm where he was struck.
The delivery has earned mention on SportsCenter as well as Baseball Tonight. Professional baseball scouts have had a divided opinion on the issue. Some were worried that this violent-looking delivery would lead to arm problems. Others considered the delivery to be an asset, as right-handed batters have a very difficult time seeing the ball. For example, Jose Marzan, his former manager with Class A Fort Myers Miracle believes that one of Neshek's greatest strengths is his ability to have enough strength to throw hard from such an angle, as his fastball tops out around 96 mph. As of August 2006, Neshek has had great success in both the minor and major-leagues and racked up more than a strikeout per inning pitched.
[edit] Fan Site
Neshek has created his own fan website. It is for his fans to interact and talk about collecting autographs. Pat has been known to auction off some of his game used items in exchange for memorabilia. He has over 4,000 fans. His fan site almost helped him win the 2007 all-star final vote. Unfortunately he fell short. He fan site continues to keep growing.
[edit] Career statistics
| Year | Team | League | G/GS | W-L | ERA | IP | SV/SVO | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | MIN | AL | 32/0 | 4-2 | 2.19 | 37.0 | 0/2 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 53 |
| 2007 | MIN | AL | 74/0 | 7-2 | 2.94 | 70.1 | 0/3 | 25 | 23 | 27 | 74 |
| 2008 | MIN | AL | 15/0 | 0-1 | 4.73 | 13.1 | 0/2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 15 |
[edit] References
- ^ On The Road With Pat Neshek
- ^ ESPN - Pat Neshek Game Logs
- ^ Great The OTHER Japanese Red Sox Pitcher Won: Bad Day For Neshek
- ^ ESPN - Neshek might be ready to stop pitching this season
- ^ The Official Site of The Minnesota Twins: Team: Player Information
- ^ The Official Site of the Minnesota Twins: News: Neshek likely to miss rest of season
[edit] External links
- Baseball Reference statistics
- Minor League statistics - at The Baseball Cube
- On The Road with Pat Neshek - Pat Neshek's official website
- SidearmStore.com - Official Pat Neshek Fan Shop
- Myspace Fan Page – Run for Pat with his Acknowledgement
