Steve Gasser started well, had control problems, saw AAA
Former Twins top prospect Steve Gasser tried to make a comeback from control problems in 1990, but it didn't go as planned, according to The Columbia State.
He walked 11 of 13 batters he faced, The State wrote.
"I was nervous," Gasser told The State afterward. "I was thinking too much. Some days I come out here and throw the ball great, letting it all out, and everything's still there. But then I get on the hill, and I'm thinking too much about mechanics instead of just throwing the ball."
Gasser hadn't pitched regularly since 1987. He couldn't get his control back. That season in 1990 marked his last as a pro.
Gasser's career began in 1985, taken by the Twins in the second round of the draft out of New Philadelphia High in Ohio.
Gasser started with the Twins at rookie Elizabethton. He went 4-7 over 12 starts, with a 3.91 ERA. He moved to single-A Kenosha for 1986 and went 5-10 there, with a 3.58 ERA in 27 starts.
Gasser explained his pitches at Kenosha to The Racine Journal Times in July 1986.
"I throw four different pitches," Gasser told The Times. "The fastball is my bread-and-butter pitch. I've been clocked at 92 (mph) this year."
Gasser moved up to AA Orlando and AAA Portland for 1987. He saw 20 starts at Orlando and went 9-8, with a 4.39 ERA. He then saw six starts at Portland and went 1-4, with a 8.27 ERA.
But then came the control problems. He returned to Orlando for 1988, but saw the mound only once. He gave up five earned runs without getting an out.
After getting traded to the Mets in December 1988, Gasser's pitching coach with Orlando Steve Comer recounted the scene then to The New York Daily News.
"It was the strangest thing," Comer told The Daily News. "On the sidelines, he could throw three pitches as good as anybody. Soon as a hitter would step in, he'd throw a ball over the backstop."
Gasser didn't hit the field for the Mets in 1989. He then returned at Columbia for 1990. He saw five outings, one start. He gave up 13 earned in six innings of work. He then moved to the Braves and single-A Sumter. He went 0-3 there, with an 8.50 ERA in six outings, five starts to end his career.
- Racine Journal Times, July 20, 1986: For the record, Gasser isn't satisfied
- New York Daily News, Dec. 22, 1988: A wild one, this Mets prospect
- Columbia State, April 20, 1990: Wild
Made the Majors:1,474-31.8%
Never Made Majors:3,169-68.2%-X