ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Baseball players are creatures of habit. With a season that runs from March through the fall, it is important to have a set rhythm and daily schedule that helps a player feel constantly locked in. For some players, that means eating the same breakfast on days that they start or having the same stretching routine before the game. For Nick Nelson, it’s basically all of the above, and then some.
“I am very superstitious,” Nelson says. “What I wear to the field, what I wear to pitch in, the way I put on my cleats, the way I put on my pants. I wear the same undershirt every time, I have to. So yeah I am super, superstitious.”
If you’ve ever seen Nelson pitch at Coca-Cola park, you’ll notice some of those quirks. In particular, he’ll be wearing a long-sleeve Phillies red undershirt, what wears for every start (except for when the IronPigs wear their gold jerseys, then he has backup). The good news is, whether he pitches well or not, he does at least wash his entire ensemble after the game.
“I’ve definitely calmed down a little bit since college. I don’t think I washed my sliding shorts that entire season. Or my socks. They were super crusty by the end of the year. I’d wear these Florida Gator socks and I just did not wash them. It was nasty.”
While Nelson has his routine with what he wears, he also has ways to change things up if he feels he needs new mojo. The main way is his facial hair. As of this writing, Nelson rocks a blonde mustache since he’d been pitching well of late. The mustache came to be after a poor start against Syracuse.
“Sometimes you have to try out something new. I gave up what, nine runs, against Syracuse. I had a goatee that game, so I decided to shave the chin and just left the ‘stache and it’s worked out for me so far. It’ll just depend on how the next outing goes if I keep it.”
For a guy with a need for routine and superstitions galore, Nelson has had deal with constant upheaval this season, but found way to pitch well despite it. Nelson’s spring training plans were interrupted by a hamstring strain which he then reaggravated once he joined the IronPigs in May. Since coming off the IL on June 9, Nelson hasn’t missed a start and from July 8 through August 11, he’s been one of the best starters for the IronPigs, going 5-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 39.2 innings, striking out 27.
Even with the great results as the summer has heated up, Nelson still feels like he has a little bit more ground to cover before he feels like he’s really hit his stride: “I feel really close. There are still a few more mechanical tweaks I’d like to make and figure out. I think that’ll help a lot with my velocity and pitch shapes. Even still, I’m satisfied with where I am right now.”
Another thing Nelson had to juggle prior to this year was getting yanked between the starting rotation and the bullpen. Nelson spent all of last year in the Phillies bullpen as a long reliever, but the Phillies wanted to stretch him out as a starter for this year. For Nelson though, pitching is pitching.
“You have to pace yourself. Which can be frustrating as a starter. At the same time, it can be the same mentality as coming out of the bullpen. For me, there’s not too much a change in routine and you have to be mindful to save bullets for when you get deep into games. Try to get some early contact and that helps out too. For me it’s still tricky trying to work around the times where I really want to ramp it up and throw as hard as I can. It’s tough trying to not just blow it out of the water in the first inning.”
One of the reasons Nelson gravitates toward trying to throw the snot out of the baseball is because, well he can. Growing up, Nelson was always a hard thrower and once you see triple digits on a radar gun once, it’s a feeling that is hard not to chase after.
“I pumped a couple 100’s two years ago and I was up to 99 last year. It’s fun looking up at the board and seeing that up there. When I was with Scranton I was actually pitching at Coca-Cola Park when I hit 100 for the first time and when I saw that on the board, that was really cool.”
All of Nelson’s idiosyncrasies are wrapped up in a lightning bolt of a right arm. You may wonder or question the method to Nelson’s madness, but at the end of the day his superstitions help him get to a place where he can pitch his best. That much has been apparent this summer at Coca-Cola Park.