By John Klima
August 24, 2009
(photo: Nebraska)
Mike Nesseth waited to flip the coin. Drafted in the 15th round by the Los Angeles Angels from the University of Nebraska, Nesseth bided his time this summer in the Cape Cod League. While he waited to see what the Angels had for him, he also waited to see which drafted players were going to get to the Huskers. Fitting that it would come down to the wire for Nesseth, a hard-throwing right-hander with a big pitcher’s frame and a closer’s mentality.
Nesseth slipped to the 15th round partly because he performed a swing role for a 25-28-1 Nebraska team that lacked pitching depth and required Nesseth to enter the rotation. Nebraska finished in last place in the Big 12 in 2009, a forgettable season for a proud program, and crossed its fingers over the summer as a total of five current players and recruits were drafted.
Nesseth pitched sparingly out of the bullpen in the Cape Cod League. He worked 23 innings and allowed 26 hits, walked 14 and struck out 17. His ERA was 6.26. He had a few choices: forget about his last college season and his last amateur summer while working things out in Instructional League, or see what talent Nebraska had coming back and if he could return to a full-time closer role.
Nebraska got all five of its drafted returers and recruits and will head into fall ball well stocked. The recruit that got to the Huskers, Phoenix 6-7 right-hander Tom Lemke, turned down the Rangers in the 10th round and will find himself as a weekend starter in all probabability. Lemke’s arrival should allow Nesseth to settle back into the back end of the bullpen and be a top-shelf college closer if he regain the consistency he compiled in 2008.
“It’s a huge moment for the program and I’m excited to be a part of it,” Nesseth told the Grand Island Independent.
Nesseth took one for the team in 2009. He believes that starting took a toll on his velocity and removed him from his strength. A 91 fastball isn’t the same as a 95 fastball. Nesseth has a very clear idea of what kind of big league pitcher he wants to be. He wants to throw gas in the ninth inning. Period.
It’s easy to see why the Angels went for Nesseth and tried to steal him for below his potential 2010 draft market value. Nesseth profiles for the organization’s long-standing preference for taller, durable right-handers who can withstand the rigors of a long major league season. It’s a characteristic that Branch Rickey deeply believed in, dating back to his years with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1930s. The belief system remained within the Dodgers organization long after Rickey was gone. Mike Scioscia inherited this quality as a young player with the Dodgers and has since firmly established it as an organizational mandate in Anaheim. You won’t see the Angels push for pitchers who they don’t think can absorb innings and maintain stuff.
A former three-sport standout at Windom High School in Minnesota, Nesseth was one of the top prospects from his home state in 2006. After he redshirted in 2007 and pitched in the Northwoods League that summer, Nesseth made a contribution to Nebraska in 2008 when he went 4-1 with four saves and a 3.58 ERA in 27 games.
When the Huskers struggled in 2009, Nesseth shuffled between the rotation and the bullpen, making eight starts and pitching 64 2/3 innings, in which he struck out 73, walked 35 and allowed 62 hits. His ERA increased to 5.01 and he finished 5-4.
Baseball Beginnings caught up to him on the Cape as he looked back and looked ahead. (more…)
Category: '10 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft |
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Tags: Los Angeles Angels, Mike Nesseth, Nebraska
