Mitch Lively

Mitchell David Lively (born September 7, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher currently in the Washington Nationals minor league system.

He was born in Susanville, California, where he attended Lassen High School. The hurler later attended California State University Sacramento, where he played baseball and football, where he was the punter. He averaged 40.83 yards per punt, the second-best mark in school history among punters with at least 50 attempts.^[1] On the mound, he had a 4.95 ERA in 14 games in 2004 and, after not playing in 2005, was 0-6 with a 7.42 ERA in 2006. During his final campaign, 2007, he was 1-3 with eight saves and a 8.07 ERA.^[2] He led the Western Athletic Conference in saves.

Despite his lackluster numbers, the Colorado Rockies drafted him in the 16th round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft,^[3] two picks ahead of pitcher Steve Edlefsen.^[4] He was signed by scout Gary Wilson. He was 1-0 with two runs (one earned) in 6 2/3 innings pitched for the Casper Rockies that year and was released following the season.

He signed with the independent San Angelo Colts of the United Baseball League for 2008, pitching 11 games and earning four saves, posting a 2.13 ERA and striking out 18 batters in 12 2/3 innings before inking a contract with the San Francisco Giants part way through the year. To finish the year, he pitched for the AZL Giants, allowing no runs in 2 2/3 innings, and Augusta Greenjackets, going 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in 10 games. Overall, he had a 1.61 mark in 23 games. 2009 was split between Augusta, with whom he allowed 9 runs in 17 2/3 frames, the San Jose Giants (5.23 ERA in 16 games) and the Connecticut Defenders, with whom he had a 0.70 ERA in 14 games. Overall, he had a 3.23 mark in 43 games. He spent 2010 with Augusta (going 4-2 with a save and a 4.89 ERA in 24 games) and the Richmond Flying Squirrels (going 2-4 with three saves and a 3.90 ERA in 23 games). He had a 4.41 ERA in 47 games overall. In 2011, he had a 2.14 ERA^[5] with nine saves in 56 appearances between San Jose and Richmond and in 2012, his first year at Triple-A Fresno, he was 8-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 47 relief appearances. He converted to starting pitching for 2013, going 7-5 with a 4.72 ERA in 30 games (20 starts) for Fresno. With the Navegantes del Magallanes during the Venezuelan Winter League, he went 6-1 with a 1.46 ERA to win Pitcher of the Year honors.^[6][7]

In late 2013, he adopted a windmill windup -- rare in modern baseball, but reminiscent of players like Satchel Paige and Bob Feller -- which he used through 2014.^[8] He began the 2014 campaign in the Giants system, but after posting a 5.08 ERA in 22 games (15 starts) for Fresno, he was released. In late July, the Nationals signed him and assigned the hurler to their Triple-A squad, the Syracuse Chiefs. He was 5-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 9 games (7 starts) for them and 11-6 with a 4.72 ERA in 31 games overall. He also averaged 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings. After being granted free agency in November, the Nationals re-signed him to a minor league contract on December 16.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)