30 Players in 30 Days: Collin Balester

Collin Balester

After making his Major League debut last season, Collin Balester saw just over a month of action for the Nationals this year. He came up to replace the injured Jordan Zimmermann on July 22nd and was sent back down to make room for Livan Hernandez on August 26th. In that time, Bally made seven starts, going 1-4 with a 6.82 ERA. The highlight of the season for Ballester was his win over Milwaukee on July 28th. In that game, he pitched 6.0 innings giving up two runs on five hits and throwing a season high 93 pitches.

The 23 year-old right-hander from Huntington Beach, Calif., also went 7-10 with a 4.44 ERA in 20 starts with Triple-A Syracuse this year. His best month was June where he went 4-1 with a 2.30 ERA over five starts.

 The former Futures Game Selection is perennially one of the Nationals’ top prospects and could be a candidate to fill a key role in the Nationals pitching rotation in the future. In 2007 and 2008 Baseball America ranked him the No. 1 then No. 3 prospect, respectively, in the Nationals farm system. On July 1, 2008, Balester became the first Nationals pitcher to win his debut when he gave up one hit and struck out three in 5.0 innings against the Marlins.

Balester is an avid surfer and credits surfing for helping him build arm strength. This offseason should be an exciting one, as he is planning to marry his fiancé, Ashley Sterling, in October.