Miracle pitcher Neshek's sidearm delivery can be baffling for batters

Pat Neshek starts his delivery by bending down at the waist. The right-handed pitcher crouches so low his glove nearly kicks up dirt.

Then Neshek straightens up and flings the ball home at a sidearm angle.

The delivery is funky, unique and effective. The Fort Myers Miracle closer, who joined the team last month, has a 0.93 ERA and six saves through Wednesday. Neshek, a three-year pro, entered this season with a 1.55 ERA and 32 saves.

"Minor-league hitters, especially in the lower levels, are not used to seeing pitches at that angle," Miracle manager Jose Marzan said. "It works for him."

Neshek didn't purposely create his delivery. It happened by accident.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Neshek was hit on his right forearm by a line drive during his last high school game in Brooklyn Park, Minn. When he returned from the injury two weeks later, Neshek — who had always thrown the ball over the top — was pitching sidearm.

"I didn't notice I was doing it until I got to college, and I saw myself on video," Neshek said.

Neshek tried to change his delivery at Butler University in Indianapolis, attempting to make himself "look normal." After a few failed attempts, he gave up.

His statistics were just too good to change back. Neshek holds Butler's single-game (18), single-season (118) and career strikeout (280) records.

Marzan said Neshek's sidearm delivery is effective because he can throw hard at that angle. Neshek's fastball tops out at 92 mph.

Neshek recently met Philadelphia Phillies farmhand C.J. Woodrow, the batter who injured him in high school. Neshek still has a lump on his forearm.

"Man," Neshek told Woodrow, "look what you did to me."

"I'm sorry," Woodrow said.

"No," Neshek said. "I think that was the best thing that could have happened to me."