Pannone takes after Nestor with varied delivery

PHOENIX -- Journeyman left-hander Thomas Pannone had just turned 30 and was sitting on a 4.71 ERA as he took the mound for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs last July 4. It had been nearly five years since his last extended stint in the Major Leagues. He decided it was time to try something different.

So, Pannone took a balance drill he’d learned as a young prospect in Cleveland's Minor League system into that Independence Day start, pausing his windup and hovering a long time over his back leg before driving into each pitch. He struck out six and lasted into the seventh inning that night vs. Omaha while allowing two runs, then he parlayed that outing into a solid second half with the Cubs and Yankees that positioned him to sign back with the Brewers on a Minor League deal with an invitation to Major League camp.

Such contracts come with no guarantees. But Pannone needed only to look around the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon -- when he worked two scoreless innings against the Dodgers at American Family Fields of Phoenix -- to see examples of other pitchers who have turned a Minor League deal into a Major League job.

“I never thought I would ever do that in a game,” Pannone said. “It took [guts] to do it the first time. I was like, ‘I can’t do this, people are going to look at me crazy, they’re going to think I’m weird.’

“Then I was like, 'I don’t really [care] what anybody thinks. I’m 30 years old, still hanging onto this game. If I can do something different than everybody else in this room and still have success, that might help me.' That’s where I’m at with it all.”

The Brewers tied their franchise record by using 17 starting pitchers last season, and while that figure was inflated by a handful of relievers working as openers, it nonetheless reflects the organization’s reliance on depth over star power. Manager Pat Murphy has encouraged every pitcher in camp to adopt the mindset of "I will pitch in the big leagues this season," reinforcing that concept in public and private conversations with many of the 30 or so active pitchers in camp.

Pannone isn’t alone in taking patience to new levels in his delivery. New Brewers lefty Nestor Cortes varies his delivery regularly in an effort to keep hitters off-balance. While that is certainly part of Pannone’s motivation, he also has a second aim.

It slows everything down.

“Once you get out there, it’s tough to have patience, because you want to go, go, go,” Pannone said. “Doing that really slows me down, slows my mind down, slows the game down. It makes it more fun.”