One of Pirates prospect Nathan Baker’s goals for the 2011 season was to pitch at least 150 innings, continuing to build up his arm so that he could be work his way up to be a 200-plus innings starter in the big leagues.
Baker finished the 2011 regular season with 148.1 innings, but surpassed the 150 mark when the Bradenton Marauders made it to the playoffs. But it didn’t stop there. Baker was chosen along with seven other Pirates prospects to play in the Arizona Fall League.
“I finished, counting the post-season, with 155 and I threw 15 innings here,“ Baker said over the phone in Arizona. “So I finished with 170 innings this year, which is the most I’ve ever thrown. Actually, 35 more innings this year than I threw last year. I think this is about the most my arms ever taken. It was great. I really enjoyed it.”
The 23-year-old spent the season with High-A Bradenton where he posted a 10-8 record with a 3.34 ERA in 29 games (25 starts). He walked 51 batters while striking out 105. Baker led the staff with 10 wins while finishing seventh in the league in ERA.
“It was a great team,“ he said. “We struggled in the first half but the second half we clinched. We ended up making it all the way to the semi’s and playoffs. Overall, I really enjoyed the way the year went. It was great that our team finished strong the way we did.”
Baker joined Bradenton teammates outfielder Robbie Grossman and infielder Jarek Cunningham by representing the Pirates in the Arizona Fall League in October. He finished the season 1-1 with an 8.80 ERA over 10 appearances (one start) for Mesa. Baker allowed 15 runs on 24 hits over 25.1 innings with 12 walks and 16 strikeouts.
“I was up in down and a little inconsistent,“ Baker said. “I started off pretty good. I had a couple rough outings towards the end. The last outing, I was able to finish strong. That’s the one thing I wanted to finish off at the end of the year, was just to have a good strong outing because I know after this I’m not going to play for a while.”
The Fall League consisted of the top prospects from all 30 clubs. Baker, who was ranked as the Pirates No. 17 best prospect by Baseball America prior to the 2011 season, pitched for the Mesa Solar Sox in the AFL East. The team consisted of highly regarded prospects such as the Bucs No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft Gerrit Cole, infielder of the Minnesota Twins Brian Dozier and outfielder Aaron Hicks. Baker also got the opportunity to play against prospects such as the Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper and Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout, who spent some time in the Majors this season.
“Overall it was a good experience,“ Baker said. “You have guys from each individual level, from High-A all the way up to the big leagues. So the talent here is amazing. Some of the guys on our team and on the other teams are just very talented. With that, I was able to feel out different hitters and I was able to meet a lot of different players. Overall it was a great experience.”
With the season finally coming to a close, Baker will head back to his hometown of Tennessee to enjoy some much deserved time off before gearing up for the 2012 season. Baker will once again spend the off-season working out with pirates pitcher Phil Irwin. Both grew up just outside of Memphis and pitched at Ole Miss together. Baker said his main focus is to get into even better shape for next year.
“Well since the off-season is only three months this year, I think one of the main things I’m going to be working on now is just getting back into better shape, probably conditioning, running, lifting a lot more than I did last off-season,“ Baker said. “I want to come into spring training stronger than I did this year. One of the things that really helped me from last year was training with Phil Irwin. We worked out everyday and we threw everyday towards the end of the off-season to get ready. That really got me ready for spring training. I actually gained three or four miles an hour to my fastball and I was able to come in a lot stronger. That’s what I want to do with this next off-season.”
Photo credit: MILB
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