State College grad Nick Raquet relishing time as rookie pitcher, pitches 5 solid innings vs. Spikes

As an Auburn Doubledays reliever threw his warm-up pitches before the bottom of the sixth inning, starting pitcher Nick Raquet emerged from the visitors’ dugout with a white Gatorade towel around his neck.

Raquet, a State College grad, made his way past home plate after pitching five solid innings and headed toward right field, where he needed to run through his shoulder exercises and a postgame workout in the batting cages at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

It was another long day of baseball in the first year of his professional career in the Washington Nationals organization, and the Boalsburg native is enjoying the experience despite the daily grind of the New York-Penn League season.

“It’s a job,” Raquet said after his team’s 2-1 loss to the State College Spikes on Sunday night. “This is what I have to get up in the morning to do. It’s the greatest job in the world.”

Raquet put together an efficient start and kept his focus while becoming the first Centre County native to play professionally at Medlar Field. The left-hander allowed two hits and one unearned run in five innings. It was the longest outing of his short career as he recorded one strikeout and walked none.

Auburn manager Jerad Head said Raquet has improved with each outing, noting the left-hander’s efficiency in his 60-pitch start Sunday. A little more than one month into his pro career, Raquet has started to learn how to mix his pitches and how to handle the adjustment from college to the minor leagues.

Raquet came out firing against the Spikes in his hometown and impressed Auburn pitching coach Tim Redding with his performance.

“It was definitely his best outing of the year,” Redding said. “And seeing him put it all together here at home for him back home was a good treat.”

Raquet had returned to Medlar Field — where he grew up going to games — in his first week with the Doubledays, but he didn’t pitch in that series in early July. His days with the Doubledays consist of conditioning, stretching, bullpens and games, with a constant focus on baseball. He and his teammates use down time to play card games like capitalism and casino in the clubhouse.

“They all kick my butt, and I’m still trying to learn,” Raquet said, still wearing his uniform after the game. “I just feel like I never get good cards. I feel like I would be good if I got some good cards, but I haven’t been lucky.”

While he keeps busy with card games and SportsCenter during game days, he uses the long bus rides to relax and sleep. But he’s ready to work and hone his craft when he arrives at the ballpark. Even being back in his hometown and hearing people yell his name during Sunday’s outing, Raquet was focused on doing his job.

He knew whom he left tickets for, but he didn’t take the time to look into the stands at all.

“I didn’t try to let the moment take control of me,” Raquet said. “I tried to do the things that I try to do every six days, and I think today I definitely made some strides. There are definitely some things that I need to continue to work on to continue to get better, but that’s any outing.”

Raquet has worked with Redding to develop a presence and pitch with confidence on the mound, making hitters uncomfortable by keeping them guessing. Raquet said he doesn’t want hitters to be “hunting” his fastball or looking for an offspeed pitch because of the count.

He showed his ability to mix his pitches Sunday — sometimes starting and sticking with his fastball and sometimes going to his offspeed offerings.

In the bottom of the first inning, Raquet fired two 93 mph fastballs to get ahead 0-2 against State College’s No. 3 hitter Evan Mendoza before firing a 94 mph fastball by him for his lone strikeout, which prompted whistles and applause from the crowd.

His fastball regularly hit 92-93 mph on the stadium’s radar gun and topped out at 95 on a pitch in the second inning. But it wasn’t all about the fastball — Raquet threw back-to-back off-speed pitches clocked at 80 and 85 mph to get a popout in the fourth inning.

“It’s definitely been a process,” Raquet said, “but I’ve definitely seen flashes where it’s really working.”

At this point in his career, Redding said it’s too early to assess Raquet’s potential. The organization signs every player with hopes of seeing them reach the major leagues, Redding said, but how long it takes and whether they make it is unpredictable.

Right now, Raquet — who was drafted in the third round of the 2017 MLB draft — is simply looking forward to going to work every day to get better And his manager has already seen him make strides.

“Every outing, he’s gotten better and better,” Head said.

This story was originally published July 30, 2017 at 11:16 PM with the headline "State College grad Nick Raquet relishing time as rookie pitcher, pitches 5 solid innings vs. Spikes."