- Pat Neshek
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Pat Neshek 
Free Agent — No. -- Pitcher Born: September 4, 1980 Bats: Switch Throws: Right MLB debut July 7, 2006 for the Minnesota Twins Career statistics
(through 2010 season)Win-loss record 11-6 Earned run average 3.05 Strikeouts 151 Teams - Minnesota Twins (2006–2008, 2010)
- San Diego Padres (2011)
Career highlights and awards Patrick J. Neshek (born September 4, 1980 in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. Neshek is a graduate of Park Center Senior High School in Minnesota and of Butler University.
Contents
Early career
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.
Neshek was originally selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 45th round (1337th overall) of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, but Neshek did not sign and went onto Butler. Neshek was later drafted in the sixth round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft as the 182nd overall pick. He signed with the Twins that year and was assigned to the Twins Rookie level team. Neshek spent four years in the minor leagues, pitching 293.1 innings in 206 games. In those 293.1 innings, Neshek accumulated 367 strikeouts, a 16-12 record and an ERA of just 2.18. During the 2005 season, Neshek led all minor league Twins players in saves.
Major League career
Minnesota Twins
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 began the 2007 season posting a 2–0 April record with a 2.25 ERA. In May he gave up six hits in 13.2 innings pitched, had eighteen strikeouts and posted a very impressive 0.66 ERA.[1] 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".[2] 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. 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. On September 20, the Twins shut Neshek down for the season because of shoulder/elbow fatigue.[3]
Neshek ended the season with a 7-2 win-loss record appearing in 74 games for a total of 70.1 innings pitched and a 2.94 ERA.[4] Neshek was honored at the Annual Minnesota Twins Diamond Award Ceremony by winning the 2007 Dick Siebert Award.[5]
In his first three appearances, Neshek allowed only one hit in 3.1 innings pitched and had a 0.00 ERA. Then Neshek was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a tear of the UCL and missed the rest of the season. On November 11, 2008, it was announced that he would undergo ligament replacement surgery, more commonly known as Tommy John surgery, and miss the 2009 season. He went under the knife a week later, on November 18.
Neshek sat out the entire 2009 season, recovering from the Tommy John surgery.[6]
Neshek made the Twins' roster out of Spring Training. In 4 1⁄3 innings he had a 4.15 ERA with two hits allowed, two runs allowed.[7] However, Neshek was put on the Disabled List on April 15 [8] due to middle finger inflammation. In another examination, MRI tests revealed that the injury was not in fact in his finger, but in his palm. Neshek wrote his anger on his website as well as on Facebook. He wrote via Facebook that he's "not happy with anything that has gone on, especially when it could have been taken care of three weeks ago and I was told the wrong info." This angered Twin's manager Ron Gardenhire because he was publicly criticizing the Twins organization and their medical staff. Eventually, the matter was settled. Later he added that "Gardy and I are on the same page" and once healthy he's willing to pitch wherever the Twins assign him, calling the whole thing "a miscommunication." [9] After his stint on the DL ended, Neshek was optioned to Triple A Rochester. Neshek was recalled to the majors on September 6.[10]
Neshek finished the season with a 0-1 win-loss record and 5.00 ERA with 9 strikeouts and 8 walks in 9 innings.
San Diego Padres
Neshek reported via Twitter that he has been sent to the San Diego Padres on March 20, 2011.[11] Corey Brock, the Padres beat reporter for MLB.com, has confirmed the move [12] An ESPN affiliated radio station in Minnesota, ESPN 1500, reports that the move occurred after Neshek was placed on outright waivers.[13] He was designated for assignment on August 20, after recording a 4.01 ERA in 25 appearances for the Padres.[14] After the 2011 season, he elected for free agency.[15]
Pitching style
Neshek has a very unorthodox style of delivery that could best be described as throwing side-arm. He developed it after being struck in the forearm with a ball in high school by C.J. Woodrow (a former Philadelphia Phillies farmhand). He then began to throw side arm and play shortstop due to his injury. When it healed, he could not 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 the Single-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 used to top out around 96 mph (154 km/h) prior to his Tommy John surgery. Neshek has had great success in both the minor and major leagues as a reliever, averaging more than a strikeout per inning pitched.
Neshek suffered an injury during the 2008 season, tearing the UCL in his pitching arm. This injury ultimately required Tommy John surgery, which sidelined Neshek for the 2009 season.
Personal website
Neshek has created his own website, which he runs entirely on his own. It is for his fans to interact and talk about collecting autographs. He has been known to auction off some of his game-used items in exchange for memorabilia. The site has over four thousand members. Neshek himself is also an avid autograph collector.[16]
Major League Awards
- Minnesota Twins Dick Siebert Award (Upper Midwest Player of the Year) (2007)
References
- ^ 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
- ^ [1]
- ^ A Sad Day: No Pat Neshek in 2009 for Twins
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ http://twitter.com/#!/PatNeshek/status/49527294317953024
- ^ http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110320&content_id=17035904&vkey=news_sd&c_id=sd
- ^ http://1500espn.com/sportswire/Pat_Neshek_placed_on_outright_waivers_claimed_by_Padres032011
- ^ Polishuk, Mark. "Padres Designate Pat Neshek For Assignment". MLBTradeRumors.com. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/08/padres-designate-pat-neshek-for-assignment.html. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ^ Axisa, Mike. "22 Triple-A Players Elect Free Agency". MLBTradeRumors.com. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/10/22-triple-a-players-elect-free-agency.html. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ On The Road With Pat Neshek
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Official Website
- Pat Neshek on Twitter
Categories:- Minnesota Twins players
- San Diego Padres players
- Living people
- People from Madison, Wisconsin
- 1980 births
- Major League Baseball pitchers
- Baseball players from Wisconsin
- American bloggers
- Butler Bulldogs baseball players
- American vegans
- Fort Myers Miracle players
- Rochester Red Wings players
- Vegan sportspeople
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