Waechter Working on His Changeup

The third-year right-hander finally saw a full year of pitching after missing nearly his entire reason season due to injury. After a successful season with Brooklyn, Waechter arrived in Florida dedicated to his changeup so he can take the mound with a strong third pitch in 2008.

Among the rotation leaders in Brooklyn during the 2007 season, one name certainly got overlooked—Nick Waechter. In his second season, his first complete season, Waechter led Cyclones rotation in starts, but despite his success [5-4, 3.89 ERA in 15 starts], he lacked a quality third pitch to make him even deeper. That third pitch, a changeup, has been at the center of his off-season training.

“I feel good about what I did this winter, and a lot of that has to do with the work I put into my changeup,” said Waechter. “When I came into pro ball, I didn’t have a changeup. I never threw one in college and then when I got [to Brooklyn in 2006], I got hurt very early on, so I haven’t really had the opportunity to develop my changeup until now.”

Waechter pitched just two innings during his 2006 rookie season before a broken elbow knocked him out for the year. With that off-season spent rehabbing so he could simply take the mound in top health, he did not have the mechanics down to correctly throw a changeup.

”I didn’t know how to throw it properly or locate it, so this off-season I kept playing catch it with it until I felt more comfortable with it,” he admitted.

Ideally, he would like to create a formidable one-two punch with this high-80s to low-90s fastball. If he combine the two pitches with his consistent slider, more doors should open for Waecther who demonstrated full health and quality stamina as a middle of the rotation starter.

”I hope that my changeup will be right behind my fastball, that’s the plan. To me, it’s the most important pitch in the game and I think it will be an important piece to any success I have this season,” said Waechter.

Second to his changeup, Waechter has pushed himself to be in proper physical conditioning for a long-season, and knows the amount of innings and success he achieved in Brooklyn has given him the confidence to get there.

“I feel that I prepared myself to really compete for a position on a long-season team,” he said. “I really put the work in over the winter and now I’m ready to compete, see some live batters and win the one-on-one battles.

” I just want to take what I learned from Brooklyn and use it this year. I think my approach on the mound was very strong last year. I was able to really play the chess game and overcome tough spots last season and I want to see the same things happen this year,” he continued.

With a likely spot in a long-season rotation in the cards, Waechter knows this is the time to stay sharp, motivated and prepared for the work ahead.

“I just think I need to stay focused this spring. We go through a whole lot of training and workouts where a lot things are focused on, so I just need to stay positive and keep improving my game,” he disclosed. “I’m just living the dream right now and all I can do is put the work in, make my pitches better and put the rest in the organization’s hands.”