A starter throughout the first two years of his career, Nate Sevier was
scouted out of the Independent Leagues and promptly joined the Storm. A former
Mariner farmhand, Sevier had 24 starts under his belt when he joined the club.
"This guy – from the beginning of the year until the end he continued
to gain confidence," Tye Waller, the Padres Director of Player Development,
said.
While Sevier wasn’t perfect, he bounced back from a poor start, working
strictly relief. After posting a 5.40 ERA through the first month of the year,
he settled it down and ended his tenure with the Storm at 3.10.
"He has solid-average stuff," Waller added. "Good fastball
with a breaking ball he can command and I think he got confidence in his
stuff."
The right-hander was very streaky throughout the season. When he was good, he
was great.
And when he was bad, he was awful. He had a five-game streak where a run
crossed the plate. Later in the year he yielded runs in four of the five games
he entered. <br><br>
It is hard to argue when he posts a two-month ERA of 1.57 but he surrounded
those months with an ERA of 5.16.
He limited the opposition to a .150 batting average in June but they batted
.341 off him in April.
The California native left the comforts of home in August to join the Mobile
BayBears where he blossomed.
"When we moved him to Mobile we just wanted a middle guy who could throw
strikes and we thought he could do an adequate job," said Waller. "He
really exceeded our expectations. He has to feel good about his year and
hopefully he can come in next year just as confident."
Through his first seven games with Mobile, Sevier allowed just three hits and
no runs over 11.2 innings of work. Take away one four hit outing and he was
nearly unhittable, allowing just a .167 average against in 11 appearances. His
ERA reflected his dominance, a paltry 1.47 and away from Hank Aaron Stadium his
ERA was just 0.79.
There is reason for optimism concerning Sevier. Although he allowed a few too
many hits with runners on base, this was his first season making the transition
into the bullpen. He throws strikes and with a return engagement to Mobile where
he killed, his confidence has to be high heading into the season.
If he can back it up this year, Sevier will have more than expectations, he
will have standards to perform to.