ORLEANS, Mass. — Liam Paddack never had a pitching coach growing up. So, when he was 12 years old, he logged on to YouTube and searched for how to throw a curveball.
After scrolling through videos, Paddack found a grip he liked and began implementing it into his arsenal. Eight years later, the 6-foot-4 lefty says nothing about his grip or delivery of the pitch has changed. The only difference in the pitch between then and now is that rather than Little Leaguers, it makes the best hitters in college baseball look foolish.
While Paddack’s curveball grip has remained consistent, his college baseball career has had multiple journeys. Prior to making his Cape Cod Baseball League debut for Chatham last season, Paddack spent two years at Spokane Community College. Then, before returning to the Anglers in 2024, Paddack transferred to Gonzaga, where he led the team with 65 innings pitched across his first Division I season.
“The guys that have success not only in this league but in baseball, they recognize that environments shift and change all the time,” Anglers manager Jeremy “Sheets” Sheetinger said.
Amid all of the changes Paddack has endured, one thing has remained consistent: his ability to miss bats. In his first season at Spokane, the left-hander struck out 32 hitters in 25 innings — averaging 11.52 punchouts per nine innings. Then as a sophomore, he improved that clip to 12.97, striking out 37 across 25 2/3 innings.
Against JUCO competition, Paddack’s high strikeout rates helped him shine. As a freshman, he pitched to a 3.96 ERA before starting with a 2.45 mark as a sophomore.
However, once he started facing D-I competition in the Cape League, Paddack struggled. Through 20 1/3 innings, he gave up 15 earned runs, 13 hits and 19 walks while striking out 17 batters. There was a stark difference in who he faced in the batter’s box.
“This is a very storied league, so it was a rude awakening,” Paddack said. “But it was a good experience, good learning experience. Every outing you go out there and have [something] you can learn from. I learned a lot last summer, and it prepared me for Gonzaga.”
Paddack didn’t have the best results in his first season with the Bulldogs, pitching to a 6.09 ERA, but his strikeout rate returned to an elite clip. By striking out 77 players across his 65 innings pitched, Paddack’s 23.8% K rate ranked in the 76th percentile among D-I pitchers.
But Paddack’s thorn was giving out free passes — which has been the same story at every stop along his college career. Against JUCO competition, Paddack overcame his career 6.04 BB/9.
The country’s best players didn’t allow him to get away with free passes in the Cape League last year, while the same problem persisted at Gonzaga. With the Bulldogs, Paddack walked a career-high 56 opposing hitters. While his command was certainly an issue, he was also adjusting to becoming a full-time starting pitcher — he served primarily as a reliever at Spokane and with the Anglers in 2023.
As Paddack reflected on his past command deficiencies, he mentioned that they’re never on the forefront of his mind and that they usually stem from bad mechanics, his ego and trying to do too much.
Heading into his first start of the Cape League season versus Orleans, the left-hander felt confident going in. Throughout the game, he showed it.
Following a scoreless first inning — where he relied heavily on his low-to-mid-70s mph curveball — Paddack faced traffic after Jack Gurevitch led off the bottom of the second by reaching on an error. Paddack trusted his stuff to eliminate further action on the bases. It worked.
First, he threw a nasty backfoot breaking ball cutting toward Orleans third baseman Roch Cholowsky on a 1-2 count. Though the pitch was way off the plate, Cholowsky didn’t pick the ball up well when it was released, forcing a check-swing for strike three.
Though Paddack’s fastball only sits 89-90 mph, his offspeed pitches — like the one that set down Cholowsky — keep hitters off balance.
After jumping ahead of the ensuing batter, Eddie Yamin, 0-2, Paddack delivered a heater toward the inside part of the strike zone. Unsure whether the pitch was a fastball or breaking ball, Yamin unsuccessfully flailed at the pitch. Six pitches later, Paddack maneuvered his way out of the inning by forcing a weak pop-up.
“I think my stuff’s gonna beat anybody,” Paddack said.
Anchored by his stuff, Paddack can mow through opposing lineups. But when he also eliminates free passes, he’s nearly unstoppable. That was the case at Eldredge Park on Thursday night.
Walking just two Firebirds, Paddack registered his second-lowest free pass outing of the year — his year-low was March 9 against Minnesota, not surrendering a walk. His outing against the Gophers was one of two outings at Gonzaga where he didn’t allow more than one earned run.
For the year, Paddack registered his third game not allowing more than one run as he walked just two Firebirds en route to a dominant first 2024 CCBL start. Across 5 1/3 innings pitched, Paddack surrendered one earned run — a fourth-inning homer from Cholowsky — while striking out seven and walking two. When he did surrender contact, it was mostly weak and on the ground, as he notched seven groundouts.
“He pitched confidently to who he is. That was as sharp as I’ve ever seen him,” Sheetinger said.
Paddack’s stuff and strikeout numbers show that he can be elite. As he gets more comfortable attacking the zone and trusting his arsenal, the once JUCO star can become a star at collegiate baseball’s highest level.
“He’s just really confident in his arsenal,” Sheetinger said. “And when he has that and he commanded it all around the zone, I'll tell you what, I used to think I could hit left-handed pitchers. I can’t hit Liam Paddack, that dude’s really good.”
(Photograph by Jack Garvey)
