Patrick John Neshek (pronounced NEE-shehk; born September 4, 1980), is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies. The Twins selected him in the sixth round of the 2002 MLB draft, out of Butler University. Neshek made his MLB debut for the Twins in , and played for them until (except for , which he missed due to Tommy John surgery). He was selected to his first All-Star Game in 2014, and his second in . Probably best known for an unorthodox pitching delivery, Neshek's arm motion slots about sidearm, with an explosive release point, which developed after a baseball struck his forearm in high school. Right-handed batters have difficulty tracking the path of his pitches, resulting in a .193 batting average, .243 on-base percentage, and a .311 slugging percentage against Neshek, in 1,143 career plate appearances, through . Early career Neshek was born in Madison, Wisconsin. At Park Center Senior High School in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, he was named to the All-State team. At Butler University, located in Indianapolis, he was a finance major and a three-year letter winner. In 2001, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League. In his junior year, his win–loss record was 4–6 but he posted a 3.08 earned run average (ERA) and 94 strikeouts (SO) in innings pitched (IP). He holds school strikeout records for a single game (18 vs. Detroit, April 15, 2001), single season (118, 2001), and career (280). He ultimately became the third Butler pitcher to make the major leagues, after Oral Hildebrand and Doug Jones. In 2018, Neshek was inducted into the Butler Athletics Hall of Fame. The Minnesota Twins originally selected Neshek in the 45th round (1,337th overall) of the 1999 MLB draft, but he did not sign and went on to Butler. The Twins again later drafted him in the sixth round (182nd overall) of the 2002 MLB draft. He signed with the Twins that year for a $132,500 signing bonus, and was assigned to the Twins' rookie farm team. He then spent four years in the minor leagues. During the 2005 season, he led all minor league Twins players in saves. In 2006, Neshek was 6–2 with 14 saves and a