NESHEK, PAT  
 
Image of    Nickname:   N/A Position:   P
Home: Brooklyn Park, Minnesota Team:   TWINS
Height: 6' 3" Bats:   S
Weight: 205 Throws:   R
DOB: 9/4/1980 Agent: N/A
Birth City: Madison, Wisconsin Draft: Twins #6 - 2002 - Out of Butler Univ. (Indianapolis)
Uniform #: 17  
 
YR LEA TEAM SAL(K) G IP H SO BB GS CG SHO SV W L OBA ERA
2002 APP ELIZABETHTON   23 27 13 41 6 0 0 0 15 0 1   0.99
2003 MWL QUAD CITY   28 34 20 53 11 0 0 0 14 3 2   0.52
2003 FSL FT. MYERS   20 29 22 29 6 0 0 0 2 4 1   2.15
2003 EL NEW BRITAIN   5 8 7 5 3 1 0 0 1 1 1   5.87
2004 FSL FT. MYERS   16 18 16 19 2 0 0 0 10 0 1   2.95
2004 EL NEW BRITAIN   26 35 34 38 18 0 0 0 2 2 1   3.82
2005 EL NEW BRITAIN   55 82 69 95 21 0 0 0 24 6 4   2.19
2006 IL ROCHESTER   33 60 41 87 14 0 0 0 14 6 2 41 1.95
2006 AL TWINS $327.00 32 37 23 53 6 0 0 0 0 4 2 0.176 2.19
2007 AL TWINS   74 70.1 44 74 27 0 0 0 0 7 2 0.183 2.94
2008 AL TWINS $435.00 15 13.1 12 15 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.24 4.73
2009 - D.L. $440.00                          
PERSONAL:

  • Pat Neshek (pronounced knee-sheck) grew up in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, playing in yards and sandlots with kids who would go to the Little League World Series.

    • "We had a sandlot-type yard, a corner lot, and we played every day after school," he said. "Our yard was so beat up, before we sold the house, we had to re-sod the whole thing.

    "That was the year they went to the Little League World Series, and eight kids from our neighborhood were on that team, so I think it had a big impact on their skills. We kept stats, on a computer. I was the statkeeper, and we had an All-Star game. We even had nicknames.

 "You'd have ghost runners, and you'd shut down an outfield, so you could play with any number of people. I think just playing every day was a big key to developing athletic ability, because all the kids who played with us were good in other sports, too.

"Our neighbor's house was the Blue Monster," Neshek said. "We knocked windows out. We had to go to rag balls, but we still broke windows." (Jim Souhan-Minneapolis Star Tribune-3/28/08)

LOCAL BOY MAKES TWINS

  • In 1998, the Twins drafted him in the 45th round out of high school. But he went to Butler University instead.

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  • At Butler University, Pat set school records for single-game (18), season (118) and career strikeouts (280).

  • In 2002, the Twins drafted him again, in the sixth round, out of Butler. This time, he signed. 

  • He grew up and went to high school in a Minneapolis suburb, where he was an all-state player at Brooklyn Park High, not far from the Metrodome.

    Pat moved to Brooklyn Park, Minn. when he was five years old. His family still lives there. A huge Twins fan as a child, Neshek grew up in a family that held season tickets at the Metrodome for seven years. His house is about a 10-minute drive from the park.

    		• "I've probably been to the Metrodome about 400 times," Neshek said with a laugh. "I practically lived there while I was in high school."

  • He was a Cape Cod League all-star in 2001.

  • Neshek maintains his own web site, which reflects the true baseball fan he is. He is an avid autograph collector. Pat calls the site, "On the Road With Pat Neshek" which is at patneshek.com. It was probably the first site offering fans a glimpse of daily life in the minor leagues.

    And Pat, who is an avid autograph collector, communicates with other collectors and "graphers."

  • The essence of Pat Neshek can be summarized in this post from his web site: "I wake up each day and can't believe how I got here and am thankful to even touch the uniform! If I wasn't playing baseball, I would probably be the guy who was coming home from work and planning a night around baseball -- what games to go to, which minor league games to get autographs, which guy to take on my fantasy team . . . "

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  • Pat and his wife Stephanee were married in December 2006.

    BECOMES A VEGAN

  • Neshek isn’t shy about crediting much of his success the past two seasons to his girlfriend/now wife Stephanee’s suggestion he monitor his nutrition. As a result, Neshek has become perhaps baseball’s biggest juicer -- of vegetables, that is.

    “I think the biggest thing about it is that my energy level is always high,” he said. “My first couple years I would tire out, and the season seemed to never end. I would get tired out and really jittery not knowing it was caused by eating McDonald’s and drinking soda. And I would pound down seven Whopper Juniors and she'd be like, 'What the heck are you doing?' and she would tell me why it's so bad.

    “When I cleaned up all that and focused on more natural foods, I started getting results from my body. My velocity started going up in big jumps and I know that it was from juicing vegetables and eating fruits, mixed in with a workout program during the season.” (Matt Eddy-Baseball America-5/22/06)

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  • On March 12, 2008, entering his second full Major League season, Neshek has converted to veganism and vows to improve his in-season workout program.

    "It started four years ago when I first met [wife] Stephanee," said Neshek, who got married in December 2006. "I would pound down seven Whopper Juniors and she'd be like, 'What the heck are you doing?' and she would tell me why it's so bad."

    Neshek finally took his wife's message to heart and is trying life as a vegan, which means he no longer eats meat of any kind or any animal byproducts.

    "[Stephanee] is a real excellent cook, probably the only reason I could do it," said Neshek, who has been in the Majors with the Twins since July 2006. "If she wasn't, I would have no chance. The food is not convenient to find and it's tough, but she makes it better tasting than what she used to make."

    The results have been noticeable to him. Neshek took a blood test in January during TwinsFest and saw a drop in his cholesterol level.

    "I've maintained my weight, and my energy is awesome," he said.

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  • Neshek's challenge will be to maintain his diet during road trips because his wife can't travel on all of them. He might have to have some food packaged or find out which restaurants match up with his diet goals.

    "We'll see where it is in June," he said.

    The other key for Neshek is the in-season conditioning program that pitchers rely on to maintain arm strength throughout the year. The Twins believed Neshek could have pitched more the previous season had he stuck with the program.

  • Pat likes Chinese or Vietnamese restaurants.

  • During the winter before 2007 spring training, Baseball America rated Neshek as being the 6th-best player in the Twins organization.

  • Neshek says if he weren't playing baseball he probably would be a financial adviser.

  • His favorite TV shows: The Simpsons, or Beavis and Butt-Head.

    TRANSACTIONS

  • January 19, 2010: Neshek and the Twins avoided salary arbitration, agreeing on a $625,000 contract for 2010.

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    PITCHING:

    • Pat has a sinking two-seam FASTBALL that is in the 87-93 mph range. That sinker has good cutting action. He also has a good, hard 88-90 mph SLIDER that has lift and plenty of turn, but not classic late-plane break. His CHANGEUP was much improved in 2007, enabling him to retire lefthanded hitters more effectively.

    • Pat is a cerebral pitcher.

      FUNKY DELIVERY

    • While Neshek was batting in his final high school game, the switch-hitter blocked a pitch with his right arm. The impact left a lump on the inside of his forearm -- a lump he still has to this day. It caused searing pain in his wrist whenever he threw. Even a specialist was not sure what was wrong.

      But, while playing for a summer league team in Kansas City, Pat discovered he could throw sidearm without pain -- and with more movement and deception. He went on to Butler University where he was very successful.
  • Neshek has a herky-jerky sidearm delivery that fools a lot of hitters. He throws strikes from his three-quarters motion. Pat's sidearm release point is what is tricky for hitters. It is an unusual double-pump move that is deceptive -- especially to righthanded batters. His first move resembles that of a sumbarine pitcher, bending low, but he finishes higher and delivers the ball sidearm. Picking up the ball out of the blur of his arms and legs is tough for hitters -- and even for his catcher.

    He is very tough for righthanded batters to read. But as is the case for most sidearming righthanders, Pat was susceptible to lefthanded batters. That was true until 2007, when Neshek much improved his changeup that he throws from the same 4-seam grip.

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  • “He’s got a funky motion, very unorthodox,” Rochester manager Stan Cliburn said. “It’s not submarine, but then it’s not three-quarters or sidearm, either.”

    What it has been is effective. As Neshek strides toward the plate, he bends and crouches as a submariner would, but then straightens and delivers sidearm to the plate. But the deception was not by design.

    “I used to throw over the top, but I got hit by a pitch (by Royals’ farmhand C.J. Woodrow) in my last high school game,” Neshek said. “I had trouble gripping a baseball, and couldn’t throw all summer. When I played shortstop (in summer ball) I threw from the side when I made plays.”

    Neshek, who attended high school in Brooklyn Park, Minn., not far from the Metrodome, was the 45th-round pick of the Twins in 1999. He was drafted the same day he was struck by Woodrow’s pitch. He turned down his hometown team for a chance to better himself as a pitcher at Butler University. By the time Neshek got to campus, his forearm had healed. The only problem was, his body had gotten used to throwing sidearm.

    “When I went to college, my coach Steve Farley wondered why I was throwing that way, and I told him I didn’t know I was throwing weird,” Neshek said. “He got me on tape and I was in disbelief at how I was throwing from the side. We tried to work it out, but he told me it worked and not to change anything. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise and is the key to getting me up to this level.” (Matt Eddy-Baseball America-5/22/06)

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  • Another oddity: When working from his windup, Neshek slides his plant foot from the third base side of the rubber to the first base side before he releases the ball—defying just about every rule of balance and mechanics.

    Until July 2007, Pat didn't even realize he does this until he heard Yankees announcers on YES Network talking about it on a replay telecast. From the stretch, Neshek's foot hugs the first base side.

  • In 2007, the righty throwing Neshek held lefthanded hitters to a .181 average with 3 home runs in 94 at-bats. Righty hitters batted .185 average with 4 homers in 146 at-bats.
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    CAREER INJURY REPORT:

    • September 2007: Neshek was shut down for the season a couple of weeks early. He was having pain in his right elbow caused by an inflamed ligament. The injury was likely a result of weakness he suffered in his right shoulder. Rest was prescribed.

    • May 10, 2008: Pat was on the D.L. with an acute partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. Neshek felt a pop in his elbow after throwing a slider during a Twins' loss to the White Sox. (The word acute means that the injury is not chronic but just occurred.)

      Rest and rehab were prescribed. But he missed the rest of the 2008 season. So much time away from the game caused Neshek to question his decision not to have surgery on the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

    		"I've put a lot of trust into the doctors and they really think that everything will heal over time," Neshek said in mid-October, 2008.

  • But on November 11, 2008, Pat underwent an MRI after experiencing discomfort during his throwing program the week before. The test showed a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament. So ligament replacement surgery was required, and Neshek missed the 2009 season.

  • 2009: Neshek missed the season while in rehab. He also didn't pitch winter ball after the '09 season, but was planning on being 100 percent for 2010 spring training after a full offseason in Fort Myers working at the field every day.

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    Last Updated 1/20/2010. All contents © 2000 by Player Profiles. All rights reserved.