PAWELEK, MARK  
 
Image of    Nickname:   N/A Position:   P
Home: Springville, Utah Team:   Retired
Height: 6' 3" Bats:   L
Weight: 190 Throws:   L
DOB: 8/18/1986 Agent: Scott Boras
Birth City: Springville, UT Draft: Cubs #1-2005--Springville (UT) HS
Uniform #: N/A  
 
YR LEA TEAM SAL(K) G IP H SO BB GS CG SHO SV W L OBA ERA
2005 AZL Cubs   14 43 25 56 21 13 0 0 0 0 3   2.72
2005 NWL BOISE   1 3 6 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0   0.00
2006 NWL BOISE   15 61 54 52 23 12 0 0 0 3 5 54 2.51
2007 MWL PEORIA CHIEFS   2 4 2 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0   6.75
2007 NWL BOISE   8 12.2 13 19 19 1 9 9 9 1 2 0.277 9.24
2007 AZL AZL-Cubs   1 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0   0.00
2008 NWL BOISE   13 24.2 25 21 19 2 0 0 0 2 2   6.20
2009 FSL SARASOTA   18 27 18 23 33 0 0 0 0 0 2   4.67
PERSONAL:

  • Mark's father Danny met his wife in Amsterdam while he was on a Mormon mission. Mark's mother moved back to Utah where the couple settled and started a family.

    • Mark is the third of four Pawelek children. His older brother Dennis was a 40th-round pick by the White Sox out of Snow (Utah) Junior College in 2002, but didn't sign and instead chose to pursue a college football career. Dennis was a backup kicker on Utah's undefeated football team in 2004.

    Like Dennis, Mark also was a standout on the gridiron, only not at quarterback, like many other talented prep pitchers. Pawelek was a kicker, and though he didn't play his senior season, electing to concentrate on baseball, he said he once kicked a 45-yarder in a game and connected from 55 yards in practice. (Alan Matthews-3/30/05)
  • Pawelek set the state career strikeout record in Utah high school baseball his junior year, with 341. He struck out 132 more in 2005, as a senior, while going 10-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 63 innings. In his first three years at Springville, Pawelek was 26-2 with a state-record 341 strikeouts. He ended his prep career with 476 Ks, the Utah state all-time record.

    Pawelek's father helped motivate Mark by rewarding him $1 for every strikeout, $100 for an ERA under 1.50, $30 for a shutout and $50 for each win.

    "This has gone on for quite a while," Pawelek said on the day he signed his first pro contract with the Cubs (the day he was drafted: June 7, 2005). "My dad has been doing this since I was 8 years old. He said, 'One day, Major League Baseball will draft you for a lot of money and until then, I'll pay you for what you do.'"

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    If Pawelek hit a batter, he got $5 because his father "didn't want me to be scared to throw inside."

    "I had a hey day with money this last year combining for over 200 strikeouts -- that's 200 dollars there," Pawelek said. "It's an incentive thing." (Carrie Muskat-MLB.com-6/7/05)

    Did the Cubs offer the same incentive package?

    "Not that I know of," Pawelek said, laughing.

  • Mark's older brother, Dennis, was drafted by the White Sox in 2002, out of Snow (Utah) JUCO, but never played pro ball. He was the backup kicker on Utah's undefeated Fiesta Bowl football team in 2004.

  • Off the field, Pawelek likes to play both acoustic and electric guitars. His dad encouraged him to play, introducing Mark to some of his generation's most popular musicians. Led Zeppelin and Boston are among the bands Pawelek says he enjoys, but his all-time favorite?

    "I love Jimi Hendrix," Mark said. "He's my favorite. And he's lefthanded so how couldn't I like him?"

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  • Pawelek signed with the Cubs for $1.75 million the same day he was drafted by them in the first round, June 7, 2005, signing with Scout John Bartsch. He is the second high school player ever drafted out of Utah. Left-hander Bruce Hurst also was a first-round pick by the Red Sox with the 22nd pick in 1976.

  • During the off-season before 2006 spring training, Baseball America rated Pawelek as the 2nd-best prospect in the Cubs' organization. And in the spring of 2007, they moved Mark down to #10 in the Cub farm system.

  • Mark showed up at 2006 spring training out of throwing shape and not ready mentally, either and was held back in extended spring training until the June short-season teams began play.

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  • March, 2009: The Cubs released Pawelek.

  • Late in May, 2009: The Reds signed Pawelek.

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    PITCHING:

    • A long, lean lefthander, Pawelek has a 90-97 mph sinking and running FASTBALL, a good CURVEBALL and good feel for his CHANGEUP. He also has a decent SPLIT-FINGER fastball that he learned while watching Roger Clemens demonstrate the mechanics of it on TV one summer afternoon. (But the Cubs had Mark get rid of the splitter and a slider in 2005 and 2006, so he could improve his 3 primary pitches, first).

    • He has very good control and command of the strike zone and is learning to pitch, instead of throw.

    • Mark gets good extension on his quick, whip-like though effortless delivery, with very good control of his pitches. But he needs some work on not rushing his awkward delivery. The ball comes out of his hand easily, and he has some pretty good deception. But he has a lot of moving parts and it is a long delivery. He pitches better from the stretch. (Aaron Fitt-Baseball America-October, 2006)

      His motion is very long in back and has him slinging the ball to the plate. That is a "red flag" for future shoulder problems.
  • He maintains his velocity late into a game. And he has the poise and composure you look for. He has improved his mound awareness.
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    CAREER INJURY REPORT:

    • June 23, 2007: Pawelek fractured a bone in his non-throwing right elbow when he tripped over his PlayStation in his Arizona apartment. Pawelek first hit his arm on the corner of a wall and then landed on the arm. Because it's his right arm, Pawelek was figured to only miss a couple of months of action.

      "I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom," Mark said. "I'm not exactly the cleanest person, and my PlayStation was in the way with the cord hung over the chairs and stuff, and I tripped over it hit my arm on the wall and landed on it wrong."

      He suffered a fractured radial head in his right elbow, and was on the disabled list for 69 days. He knows the exact time because the medical staff kept count.

    		"I still did my throwing program, but I couldn't catch for a month," he said. "They had me doing everything to keep in shape."
     
     
     
    Last Updated 4/2/2010. All contents © 2000 by Player Profiles. All rights reserved.