15_nathan_bland   (15/22)

Nathan Bland isn't much of a pitching prospect anymore, but the Angels invited him to spring training camp anyway; he's done well enough (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP) in limited action, but the former fourth-round 1993 Dodgers draft pick isn't going anywhere but Salt Lake, if that; besides spending five years in single-A, repeated AA three times, and was let go after 1998. He spent a year in Sioux City in the indy Northern League, and then another year off, followed by stints with the Mets, Astros, and Cubs. He managed good strikeout rates with Houston, but it looks career-ish, and he's probably out of baseball within three years, maybe less.

David Austen -- whom I initially misidentified the player above as -- isn't on anyone's radar; he's probably not even on the map. But his gutsy 1.2 IP performance in this game was nothing short of miraculous, helped along by some strategy from Mike Scioscia, as we shall see presently. Austen, a 15th-round pick from the 2003 draft, started in Rookie-A Provo with a dominating 10.26 K/9 rate, had an equally convincing 9.00 K/9 at Cedar Rapids -- and then dropped dramatically at Rancho (6.85). He recovered after repeating high-A ball, posting an excellent 1.80 ERA at Rancho, and a mediocre 4.05 ERA at Arkansas, accompanied once again by declining strikeouts. At 24, it's not too late for him, but he has to improve his rate stats to succeed.

And, oh, yeah, he did succeed here. But --