Edlefsen sells coaches on a move to the mound

LINCOLN - Far away from the Nebraska baseball team last summer, playing for Duluth, Minn., in the collegiate Northwoods League, Steve Edlefsen became a pitcher.

OK, so that's not entirely true. Edlefsen, a junior entering his second season with the Huskers, was a pretty good reliever at his Bloomfield, Minn., high school. He could throw in the lower 90s, and when he went to Barton County (Kan.) Community College in 2004, intended to pitch in addition to playing shortstop.

Elbow problems, however, kept Edlefsen off the mound. And in the fall before his sophomore season, he underwent Tommy John surgery, a procedure that reconstructs the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow and, for many patients, revives athletic careers.

What happened with Edlefsen, drafted in the 41st round by the Boston Red Sox after his one season at Barton County, is that he became a part-time third baseman for NU. In 31 games last season, he hit .260 and had a big moment by hitting for the cycle and tying the school record with six hits against Iowa.

And yet, the son of a pitcher who made it to Double-A ball in the Atlanta Braves' organization still had the itch to contribute in other ways for the Huskers. Sometimes, he'd show that while warming up for practices and games, as teammate Andrew Brown would crouch down and see what Edlefsen could bring.

“He didn't know that I pitched from a different (three-quarters high) arm slot, and my ball was dipping and diving, and he's like, ‘Hey, tell coach Bingham,'” Edlefsen said.

Dave Bingham, a veteran of handling pitchers but in his first year at Nebraska, had enough to deal with when Edlefsen came to him later in the season. Bingham basically told Edlefsen to table his idea to pitch.

Edlefsen did, until he got to Duluth.

“‘Eddie' went to Dave Parra, the manager, and said ‘Coach Bingham wanted me to tell you that he wants me to throw bullpens, and he thinks that I can pitch,'” Bingham said. “So they put him in a game right away and 10 o'clock the next morning I get a call from Dave saying, ‘Hey, this guy's really good. It was 90 to 92 (mph) with a tough arm slot. Thanks a lot for sending him up here to pitch. We didn't expect this.' From then on, they put him in the bullpen.”

In six relief appearances, Edlefsen gave up just five hits and two runs over 81/3 innings for an earned-run average of 2.16.

And, yes, now Bingham is hoping the right-hander can help the 2007 Huskers.

“He has major league-type tools - run, throw, arm strength, athleticism - but he's still trying to learn the game, is what it comes down to,” Bingham said. “He's that gifted, too, pitchingwise. It is 90 to 93 with a low three-quarters slot, with lots of sink. He's definitely in the mix for us.”

Edlefsen also has moved from third base to playing first and the corner outfield positions, and is concentrating on hitting right-handed instead of switch-hitting.

Makes you wonder if he switched academic majors, too.

He didn't.

“You're only here once, so I want to use my athletic abilities as much as possible,” said Edlefsen, trying to follow in the footsteps of Ryan Bohanan, who in 2005 hit .311 and made 21 pitching appearances. “The success I had initially (on the mound), it's tough to say, ‘Forget about it.'”

Entering the season, which begins Feb. 16, Bingham envisions Edlefsen filling a role as a late-inning reliever. Bingham dreams of being able to provide coach Mike Anderson with a pool of six pitchers out of the bullpen - three lefties and three righties - each game. He also knows that sophomores Erik Bird and Zach Herr have the experience of 24 outings from last season, and is encouraged by the development of Luke Wertz, Mike Harmelink and Dan Jennings, so it'll be up to guys like Edlefsen and first-year Husker Thad Weber to prove they're reliable options.

“We're going to put Edlefsen in the game and say, ‘Go get us three outs.' But if it blows up on him, there'll be another guy to come in and kind of rescue that inning,” Bingham said. “What we hope is that he will come along and learn to get three outs, and then pass it to the next guy.

“We've seen him be a little tenuous with the strike zone, and we know we've got two guys who are not. If he (gets that down) then, boy, that's a real plus to us, because he is talented.”

It just took some relentless prodding by Edlefsen for it to show.

“With my stuff, (Bingham) just said ‘Throw at the plate and good things are going to happen,'” Edlefsen said. “For me, I feel at home.”